Talk Right Through Me
by Benet1003
Summary: A day beofre his wedding Lucas goes to the people he trusts the most to see if he is making a big mistake. Leyton, Naley, BrookexOwen
1. Lonesome Tears in My Eyes

The crashing of the thunder had never been anything that had bothered Lucas Scott before. Even as a kid it had never fazed him, actually, it had had the opposite effect. It calmed him down, Peyton used to say it was because it reminded him that there were bigger things then them on the planet. And on the rare occasions when it made him nervous, he loved dragging Haley out into the rain, and down onto the river court to play and watch the rain hit the water. That always calmed him down. But he couldn't do that tonight. He wasn't seventeen anymore, and he couldn't just leave his fiancé in his house to go shoot some hoops in the rain. At least that was what he had convinced himself about an hour ago when he had realized he had a long and sleepless night ahead of him.

Now, he wasn't so sure. It was only 1:38, he realized, looking over at the clock. And after the rough few weeks that he and Haley had both had, maybe a night to be seventeen again was exactly what they needed. And it wasn't like he was just leaving. Lindsay would be with Nate, who was still sleeping on the couch. Actually, though Lucas, as he silently climbed out of bed, careful not to wake his lightly snoring fiancé, he probably should at least tell Nate where he was going.

"Hon, where are you going?" came a muffled voice from the bed, as Lucas finished pulling on an old pair of jeans, one of his favorite TRIC tee-shirts and his Ravens Basketball sweatshirt.

"Linds. You're up. I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm just going out to hang with Haley." He explained quietly as he walked over to her, placed a chaste kiss on her forehead on left before she could refute him. Which she had been doing a lot of lately. It seemed like every time he left her sight she had to know where he'd be, or more importantly, if he would be with Peyton once he got there. But all he could hear was a sigh from his bedroom as he made his was through the dimly lit, fiercely cold, hallway, towards his living room, where he shook his brother awake.

"Nate. Get up. I need to talk to you."

"What could you possibly want at this hour?" asked Nate, in the same muffled tone Lindsay had spoken in just a few seconds prior.

"I need to talk to Haley about something." He replied, thoughtfully choosing each word, as to not offend his little brother.

""Me?"

"No Nate." Lucas said, rather forcefully. "Sorry. It's just been a long week, and I need to talk to my best friend. You don't care, right?" he asked, though it really didn't matter to him whether or not Nate was okay with it. He needed to talk to her.

"It's fine. Just tell her I love her and I miss her and I wish she was here."

"Will do little brother. If Lindsay wakes up and I'm not home yet just make sure she knows I'll be home soon." He said, returning his brothers sad smile as he pulled up his hood, grabbed his keys and cell phone and walked out into the pouring rain.

Thankfully, the walk to his car was short, and mostly under the porch, so he wasn't soaking wet by the time he got into his car and pulled out his phone. Surprisingly, Haley picked up the phone on the first ring, and sounded wide awake.

"You couldn't sleep either Hales?"

"Nah. You know I hate the rain. Always did. Jamie's at Skills and Mouths apartment and Nate's the only one who could ever help me get to sleep at night."

"You miss him." Lucas finished, knowingly. "He misses you too, like crazy."

"Yeah. Well, what are you still doing up Luke? You're getting married! You should be spending these next few nights with Lindsay."

"I needed to talk to someone." Admitted Luke, as he pulled up to Haley and Nathan's house.

"We are so not going down to the river court Lucas." Haley said into the phone before hanging up and appearing in her front door, waving him in.

"Why not?" he laughed, walking into the house that he was so familiar with and hugging his best friend.

"Lucas, it is pouring harder than it ever did when we were kids. I can't miss school, especially now-" Haley said, cutting herself off as she realized what she was saying.

"What's going on now?"

"Nothing. Let's talk about why you're here. What's going on Luke?"

"I need you to tell me the truth. Not as Haley my best friend, or as Haley Lindsay's friend, or Nate's wife, or Peyton's friend. I need you to answer me as Haley the impartial observer in my life."

"I can do that. I think."

"Okay." He said, settling into the couch where they were sitting. "Am I making a mistake?"

"Telling me? No, Luke. I was just kidding. I can be impartial. I swear. I was joking."

"No, I mean marrying Lindsay."

"Do you love her?"

"Yeah, I do. It's just, complicated. All the sudden she's always asking where I'm going, and if I'm going to be with Peyton. And I love that she's so concerned, and I wouldn't mind her asking normally, but…"

"But you're afraid that you're not seeing something that she is. That there's a reason she's jealous."

"I wrote an entire book about Peyton and how much I loved her, and Lindsay helped me edit it. But I haven't been able to save anything from my delete button since I broke up with her. I know that she has something to worry about. But what I don't know is how worried she should be."

**A/N: So this is going to be a multi chapter fic, Leyton mostly, with a little bit of Naley, some Brooke x Chase and some Rachel x Mouth friendship. Reviews are always welcome! **


	2. With A Little Help From My Friends

"Let's talk about that book, by the way." Haley said, motioning for Lucas to follow her up to her room, where they both lay down on the bed as Hales grabbed the orange, and now tear stained manuscript from the wooden dresser next. "Luke, I loved it, but it's very, um, Peyton-y."

"I know Hales. I know. But it just came to me like that. It's the first thing I haven't deleted since I started dating Lindsay."

"And it's about Peyton?"

"And it's about Peyton." Confirmed Lucas, lowering his head into his hands and sighing, just as Haley spoke up.

"I wish I could just dive into that head of yours Lucas Scott." Haley laughed after a few second pause.

"Why? So you could be completely confused over who you love? Trust me; I wish I could dive into my head right now."

"So lets Luke."

"Hales, I love you and all, but I am not letting you cut into my brain."

"Funny. No, I mean I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything. I'm your friend, first and foremost. Not Lindsay's, not Peyton's. And I know that face. That's your "I'm hiding something" face. Tell me what going through that blond head of yours."

"I didn't mean to ask Lindsay to marry me."

"Umm, did it accidentally slip out of your mouth, or something?" Haley replied, sounding startled, mad and, judgmental. Three traits that Lucas Scott so did not need to hear coming out of her mouth. "Sorry. No judgments. Right. How did you accidentally propose?"

"I came into the house and saw Lindsay standing there holding the ring. She was crying, and I couldn't tell her that it wasn't her ring. I couldn't do that to her. So I told her I had been waiting for the perfect time, and then I asked her to marry me."

"Whose ring was it?" she asked, forgoing the feeling of disappointment and anger for concern and curiosity.

"It was Peyton's." Luke said, even though the question wasn't one that needed an answer and his tone very clearly said that the ring was never anyone else's.

"You proposed to Peyton? When?"

"Three years ago. It was right after the Cobra's was the Division II Championship. I went out, had dinner with her and then we went back to the hotel. And I proposed. And she said no." He explained, drumming his fingers on the headboard, and omitting the parts where Peyton was at leaving for work. Which was actually most of the time.

"Peyton said no?"

"Well, actually, she said someday. Same thing. It's like we'll see or, maybe. It's just a nice way of saying no."

"Yeah, if you're a five year old who's asking for a puppy. Not if you're a 19 year old whose long distance boyfriend just proposed." Haley said, only this time she was saying exactly what she felt. And what she felt, was anger.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell I did wrong. Brooke said the same thing when I told her. And hell, even Lindsay said that was completely idiotic of me."

"First of all, Lindsay knows? And when did you tell Brooke?"

"The night it happened I got a call saying my book was going to be published and I went to New York. I got drunk and I told Lindsay the story. She doesn't remember. I've asked a few times. I told Brooke the same night. I was definitely still drunk."

"But you never told me." Haley said, understandingly, yet still a bit insecurely.

"Never talked about it again after that night. Hurt too much."

"Okay. Well. We're going to talk about it now. Are you stupid?" she asked, hitting his arm as she quickly switched from being understanding to aggressive.

"What did I do?"

"I worked in the music business. I knew people who had Peyton's old job. In that job a 40 hour week, means you work 70 hours and are on call twenty four seven. The pay is awful. You wake up at five, head into work, work until about 10, go home, usually get another call and by the time you get home, to your dingy, cheap, usually undecorated apartment you're usually so tired that you walk in and fall asleep in your clothes. Then you get just enough sleep to wake up feeling worse than you did before and start all over. Your days off- you sleep. I knew people who went literally days without talking to their boyfriends when they lived with them. You and Peyton were a long distance couple who were only dating. And there's no such thing as a long distance marriage. Not one that works anyways. Not when you're 19. When Peyton said someday she didn't mean no. She meant that maybe in about a year or so, when she had an amazing job, or you were at least done with college and you two could live together then she would be able to marry you, knowing everything would be okay. She wasn't giving up on you. She was just making sure you didn't feel like you have to help her out, financially, or any other way. She wanted you to achieve your dreams." Haley explained to her dumbfounded best friend, sounding exasperated. "Did you really believe that she didn't love you anymore?"

"I didn't know what to believe. I was 20. I loved her, and then she told me she didn't want to get married. I was devastated. And then Lindsay came along. And I really liked her."

"Let me get this straight. You bombarded Peyton with a proposal, she said someday. You broke up with her and got into a long term relationship with the next girl you like?"

"Yeah. Hales."

"And now you want me to tell you if I think that was a mistake?"

"It would be nice, actually if you told me I didn't make one. And that Lindsay was the girl for me. Like you did at the party."

"Luke. It's the day of your wedding. Don't you think that maybe you should have though of this about, I don't sometime before you proposed?"

It was only then that Haley really looked at Lucas for the first time in awhile. He was a mess. Right now, he was crying, silently into his hands and he was shaking, slightly. But he also looked tired, worn out and that gleam in his eyes, well she hadn't seen it since the last time he was with Peyton. She knew what she had to tell him. She knew it would break Lindsay's heart. But she had to do it.

"Lucas, if Lindsay and Peyton were both in a burning building, which one would you save?" The question was a last ditch attempt to get her mind around what he was thinking. It was random, but she knew it was an easy question to answer, not so easy to say the answer though.

"Peyton. I would save Peyton." Lucas answered after a long pause. "I would save her because I love her and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she died. And someone's got to save her."

"Then go save her."

"What? Haley you were not supposed to say that."

"I know. I was supposed to tell you doubted your relationship because you were nervous, and everything will be fine once you get married. But it won't be fine Lucas. Do you remember reading Great Expectations freshman year?"

"Of course. You loved it. I hated it."

"Miss Havisham condemned Estella to having an awful future because she thought that it would help her get over being left at the alter. And it did that. But it also made Estella resent Miss. Havisham for the rest of her life. If you go through with this you're going to break Peyton's heart, you're going to condemn Lindsay to a marriage that you're not sure of, because you wanted to get over Peyton three years ago and most of all you're going to break your heart. I've never seen you happier than when you were with Peyton. You need that back Luke."

"I've got to go Hales. It's almost three. And I have a few people to talk to. Thanks. I really do love you. And so does Nate. He may of screwed up, but we all do. Hell, I broke up with the woman I love." Luke said, getting up from the bed and kissing to top of her head.

"Luke, don't talk to Peyton until after you've talked to Lindsay. Don't make her feel like a home wrecker. She doesn't need that."

"Promise. And I know that Lindsay's your friend, and that this was a hard thing for you to do. But thank you." Luke said as walked out the door and back through the soaking wet, flooding streets into the safety of his dry car.

"She was your fiancée. It's going to be a harder conversation for you to have." Haley whispered as she watched him drive away. But the Luke's comment about Nathan was ringing in her head. She knew he was a good guy. And she loved Nate. But she didn't want to be hurt. Well, she though as she picked up the phone, there is one person that is going to be hurting more than I am by the end of the day.

It was 3:14 in the morning in Tree Hill, and the only calls that were going through the normally dead lines felt as though they were ringing through the otherwise silent street.

"Nate, honey, it's me. Please come home."

"Brooke. Yeah, it's Lucas. Can you meet me at Clothes over Bros.? I need you to tell me how to break up with my fiancée on our wedding day.

**A/N: Okay, so second chapter up. I tried to write it so that it would fit last night's episode. It takes place directly after the 3/11 episode. Please, review. And anyone with any things you'd like in the Lucas/Lindsay break up, comment, and I might just put it in.**


	3. Things We Said Today

"You want me to do what Brody?" Brooke asked as she almost dropped her new iPhone into the sink, where she and Chase were doing dishes. Owen was in the dining room, setting the table for the four of them while Peyton was in her room, probably crying. The party had been great, but none of them were going to be able to sleep, and there hadn't been much food at the party, so Chase had suggested they have a late night barbeque, and for the first time in weeks, Peyton had agreed to eat with them, so Brooke hadn't had the heart to turn him down.

"I want you to meet me at your store, and help me to figure out how to break up with Lindsay."

"Are you aware that you are planning on getting married in less than twelve hours?" she whispered, nodding to Chase and motioning towards the porch so that he would know where she was going.

"Not anymore. Please. I'm doing this, no matter what. With or without your help Brooke. But I would really like your help."

"No, god Luke. Of course I'll help you. I just, had given up on you ever seeing the light on this one."

"Thanks. Can you be there in about ten minuets?"

"Yeah. I have to bring Owen along though. I need some stuff unpacked. And we could probably use some help. I'd bring Chase, but I need someone to watch Peyton."

"Watch her?"

"We'll talk later. I'll be there. Promise. See you soon."

"Brooke." Lucas said before hanging up, "could you not say anything to Peyton, not yet. I don't want her feeling guilty."

"Yes. Sure. Thank you Luke." Brooke said laughing, as she hung up the phone. And she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she walked back into the house, and explained what was going on. And it was a mark of their relationship, and how well he knew her friends that even he couldn't keep a smile off her face as he instructed Chase on how to finish the dinner.

As Owen ran off to go get cleaned up, so that he wouldn't smell like barbeque at the boutique, Brooke laughed as she told Chase what to do.

"Look, just finish the dinner, and then eat with Peyton. Make sure she eats; I don't think she did at all yesterday. And then make sure she gets to sleep. She needs at least a few hours this week. There's some sleep meds in the cabinet, if she won't go to sleep, she is allowed to have one. And if Rachel shows up-"

"Don't let her go out and play, and make she takes her bottle. Brooke. She isn't five. She's a grown woman. And I think that she's allowed to mope today. The love of her life is getting married. But I'll make sure she eats, and gets some sleep. I promise."

"Thank you."

"Would you please stop talking about me in hushed tones?" said a voice from the hallway outside the kitchen door, which was revealed to be Peyton's. "I can hear you. And I'm not going to break down."

"I know P. Sawyer. But Owen and I have to go run a few errands for the company, and Chase is staying here. Eat. Sleep. And as I was trying to tell Chase, if Rachel shows up, send her straight to the shop. Actually," Brooke said, turning from her somber, heart broken best friend to her ex-boyfriend, "Chase, dive her there. Peyton you are not allowed to leave this house under any circumstances. Promise?"

"Fine mother. I'll be sure to."

"Thank you." Owen interrupted as he whisked Brooke out of the house and into his car.

"I swear, you're more excited about this than I am."

"Brooke, honey. I have seen Peyton the past few weeks. She's a mess. She isn't eating, or sleeping. And I've heard about the amazing Leyton from Chase over the years. They need each other. And I need more time alone with you."

"Well the, get moving. The sooner we can plan this, the better. For everyone."

Five minutes later, as they pulled up to the store, Brooke got her first look at Lucas Scott. He was definitely looking grim. And nervous. And sad. And an entire array of emotions that Brooke Davis was sure that she had never seen on anyone's face, all at the same time.

"Brody. You're a mess." She sighed as she ran over to where the blonde novelist was standing and hugged him, tightly.

"I am about to break off my engagement with my fiancée, so that I can be with a woman who probably won't take me back anyways. Of course I'm a mess." Lucas said, ending his rant with a bitter laugh as the threesome made their way into the Clothes of Bros shop, Owen gave Brooke a tight hug, and then made his way to the back of the store to do some unpacking while Brooke and Lucas talked.

"Okay, Lucas. I love you, and you know I think you're doing the right thing. But are you sure? Luke, she can't take another broken heart. I don't think it ever fully recovered from the last time."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I love her so much it hurts. I never should have given up on her. I messed up. And Lindsay and Peyton shouldn't both have to pay for it."

"Okay then Luke. Here's what I call the art of breaking up. Though I've never broken up with a guy on our wedding day before, so we might have to adjust…"

Three hours later Lucas Scott smiled as he hugged Brooke goodbye. They hadn't really came up with an amazing speech for him to give, but they had both decided that he just needed to tell the truth to Lindsay, she deserved that much.

"Hey, Luke, before you go, will you answer me one question?"

"Sure Pretty Girl, what's on your mind?"

"Why now? What happened to change your mind?"

"I love Lindsay, I really do, but she'll never be able to compete with what Peyton and I shared. She'll always be second in my heart, and that's…"

"Not fair to you or Peyton, Lindsay." Lucas said to his heart broken fiancée about a half an hour later. After he had told Brooke why now, she had left him with only one word of advice: say that. So that's what he was doing. "You deserve someone so much better than me. Someone who can love you completely for who are. And I can't do that. Because I am, and always will be, in love with Peyton Sawyer."

**A/N: Okay, so this is not the end of the story. In case I wasn't very clear, The last paragraph switch from Luke talking to Brooke, at about six in the morning, to Luke talking to Lindsay, at about seven. The next chapter will be Lindsay's reaction, and Peyton's reaction. Review, Please! Oh, and if you fave or alert, please review! Thanks!**


	4. I'll Be On My Way

"I am so sorry Lindsay." Lucas mumbled as he looked to the floor. He may not have loved Lindsay as much as he loved Peyton, but he still did love her, and seeing her hurt did hurt him.

Lindsay and Luke were standing, in what had previously been their bedroom, but though they were only about a foot apart Luke was wishing that they were in separate states.

"The first night I saw met, in New York, I asked you if you were with Peyton. And you told me no. I wasn't lying."

"I know Lindsay. And we weren't together then. We had broken up. I'm sorry."

"No, I mean after you told me that Luke and Peyton weren't together, I told that you I was sorry. I wasn't lying when I said that. I really was rooting for Peyton and Lucas. I loved reading about them. They were so happy together. The entire country agreed with me. I'm not saying that I'm not hurt. Because I am. But it's a little easier to bear the pain, because I knew, from the first time that I read your book that you two were meant to be. I should have left a long time ago. This isn't completely your fault. So I'm sorry that neither of had the courage to speak up before today. But I'm not sorry for us. Lucas Scott, I love you. And I could never regret that." Lindsay finished, and tears were freely flowing down her face like rain down a window.

"I never meant to hurt you. I know you never meant to hurt me. But before I go, will you answer a question for me?"

"Sure, what?"

"What's this?" she asked, moving away from Luke, and towards the living room, where the on the TV, paused, was a home video that Lucas had seen some many times it was slightly funny.

The movie looked like a home video, and indeed, it was. It was from Peyton's web cam, and was taken a few months after Peyton and Luke had finally gotten together. Peyton was sitting crossed legged on her bed, talking to the camera, in what sounded to Lindsay like what might have been a recording of her pod cast. Lucas was directly behind her, laughing as he ate chocolate chip cookies. Occasionally he would reach over and kiss her gently on the forehead, or add something to whatever Peyton was rambling about. A gesture that usually earned him a dirty look from Peyton.

"Just me and Peyton talking to her brother. The real Derek, after he left for Iraq." Lucas explained to her, smiling. That night was his favorite memories of when he and Peyton had been together. It had been one of the weekends when he and Peyton were together. Peyton had been really sick for the past few weeks, and as soon as Lucas had found out he had flown directly out to LA. That night had been his last there, and Derek had called to check in with Peyton, and the three of them had had a great time. Carefully, taking care to stop the movie quickly, before it got to the next part, Lucas reached over and took the DVD out of the player and slid it back into its case.

"Oh." She relied, sounding more and more broken hearted with every passing moment. "It's sweet."

"Where's Nate?" Lucas asked, only then noticing that they were alone in his house.

"He's bringing the last of my boxes into the car. Then he said he had something to tell you." Lindsay explained as she looked at Lucas sheepishly and sighed.

"You knew didn't you?" he asked, taking notice of the Living room, which was now cleared of all his ex-fiancée's things, and the pile of boxes which he could see through the window.

"Lucas Eugene Scott, I knew we weren't getting married the second you left this morning. I'm done packing. I'll be gone in about twenty minutes."

"Lindsay."

"Lucas don't. Don't make this harder than it is. Just do me a favor, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Don't open the box in our- the, bed room until after I've left."

The next twenty minutes went by, for Lucas at least, as slowly as if he were waiting to be killed. Lindsay had been right when she had said she was almost packed. All that was left do be done was clear out her closet, a task that Lucas knew wouldn't take long, because most of her clothes were still in New York, in the apartment she kept for when she had to do publicity trips in the city.

At some point during those twenty minutes, Haley had shown up, presumably to say good bye to Lindsay, but Lucas wasn't surprised when he saw her packing up Nathan's stuff as well.

Nathan's good bye was the easiest, he had never really like Lindsay, and he really only put up with her because Lucas loved her, and he wanted him to be happy. A quick nod, and a hug, and then it was over, with neither looking any more distressed than they had before.

Haley had been great friends with Lindsay, when she had been Lucas' editor, and when she has made the transition to Lucas' girlfriend, she couldn't have been happier. But as she had said before, she was Lucas' friend first, and she would give up Lindsay for him. Still, as she hugged her, the tears gushed down her small face. As soon as she had pulled her self together enough to do so, she pulled her husband out of the house, leading him to the front porch, so that Luke and Lindsay could say goodbye alone.

"I'm sorry Lindsay."

"Me too Luke."

"If it's worth anything, I did, do, love you."

"It is, worth something, I mean. And I know you did. You're a good guy Luke. And I loved you. We both knew that I would never be first, and we both ignored that." And with that, the brunette grabbed her last bag and got into her car, driving out of the driveway for the last time, with tears running down her face. And through the rearview mirror, just as she turned out of the driveway, she saw Luca, sitting on a chair, as Haley wrapped her arm around his back. He did look upset, she noticed, a slight smile escaping her lips at the thought, but he also looked like he was happy, and surprisingly, that brought a slight smile to her face too.

**A/N: Not sure if I like it, but review. No Peyton reaction in this chapter, I was going to, but I decided that I liked this way a little better. Review, please! **


	5. Hello, Goodbye

It was only after Lucas had watched Lindsay's car drive out of his driveway that he remembered the box. He had seen it on his bed, when they were packing, but true to his word, he hadn't opened it. The box was rather large, and was made of what looked like pine. And thoughts of its contents had been prodding at his mind since she had mentioned it.

"Nate, Hales, I'm going to head inside. Nate, are you…" he trailed off, not sure how to asked if Nathan was going home with Haley, especially if the answer was no. Thankfully, his best friend saved him the trouble.

"Nate's coming home with me Lucas. We worked everything out, and I packed for him while you guys were… packing."

"Oh, okay then. I've got stuff to think about, so, umm, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay Luke. Nate could you give us a sec?"

"Sure, let me just go grab my stuff. I'll go put it in the car." Nate said, kissing his wife quickly before he left the two best friends alone.

"Lucas, I know what you just did was hard for you, but I just wanted to say, you made the right choice. No matter what happens."

"No matter what happens? What's that supposed to mean?"

"With Peyton, if you guys get back together. No matter if you do or not, I'm really glad you followed your heart. And I'm sure your mom will be so proud of you too"

Lucas had heard of moments when you can't physically do anything, but he had never actually had one. Normally when he got upset, or scared, he moved, ran or jumped, it really didn't matter what he was doing, as long he had some sort of physically activity going, even if it was only for a moment. It hadn't ever really had any benefit to him, except for maybe the fact that it made him play basketball well under pressure. It had plenty of drawbacks though, especially when other people needed him to be around, and he had the pulling urge to just get the hell away from where he was, or when he, say found out his father had killed his uncle, and he punched him. But today, right then, Lucas would have given anything to want to run, hell he would have given anything to be able to run. Because at that moment, he was completely, involuntarily, still. It had never even crossed his mind that Peyton wouldn't just run back into his arms. But Haley was right. She probably wouldn't. He had put her, knowingly, through the ringer theses last few months, and he was going to pay for it. And then he would have to tell his mother how much he was screwed up the entire thing.

"Lucas. Are you okay?" Haley asked, snapping him out of his thoughts, but not quite out of his anxiety. "Luke!"

"Oh, yeah. Fine. Look, I've got to go. I've got some stuff to think about, and, you just reminded me that my mother was even coming in. She's going to be here in about an hour. I have to get the house cleaned up."

"Yeah, you might want to do that. Bye Luke." Agreed Haley, though a bit hesitantly, before she walked down to her car, kissed Nate, and then both of them get into their cars, and left, leaving Lucas on his porch, alone and severely anxious.

The first thing Luke decided he had to do as he walked back into his house was take care of the wedding things. He had to call the church, the reception hall, and all the other places that they had rented or needed things from today. Shit. Then he had to call all the guests, and his mother. And, he had to find out if they were letting his father out of prison. There was not a chance he was going to get all that done alone. Not when there were over four hundred people coming to the wedding. And he couldn't bring himself to call Haley and Nate; they had just gotten back together. They didn't need to spend their first day back together as a real family to be spent at Luke's house, calling people to tell them the wedding was off. So as much as he hated to he picked up the phone and called the sassy brunette who was slowly beginning to be the person he called the most.

"Brooke?"

"Lucas! How'd it go? You did do it right?" Brooke whispered, which he could only assume was because she was in hearing range of a certain curly, blonde, woman that he was madly in love with.

"It went as well as it could. Until after she left and I realized that I had about six hours to tell about four hundred people that there was no wedding, and call all the wedding places."

"Say no more Brody. I will be there before you can say- hello." She said, saying the last word, not over the phone, but in person, as she walked through the front door and hugged Lucas.

"Brooke! How'd you- What are you-? Brooke!" he laughed as he hugged the leaguing fashion designer back.

"Nate called when he got into the car. Told me that you were going to need some help and he wanted to spend some time with Jimmy and Haley, so he asked me to come over. I told him I would, and if you were in any shape for it, I would bring over Owen, Mouth, Chase and Rachel, who showed up at my house like twenty minutes after you left and is acting like absolutely nothing happened. Anyways, can I go call in the reinforcements, or would you rather I not?"

"Go right ahead. At this rate, I'll need the entire town to help me out. But who's going to-"

"Peyton's at home, sleeping. And she'll stay sleeping until I wake her up. I promise. Now, excuse me for a second." She said, laughing as she flashed him one of her patented Brooke Davis smiles as she walked out of the room and in to the kitchen, where Lucas could hear her talking to, what sounded like, Owen.

Several minutes later Brooke returned. Still smiling, with her phone in her pocket and one paper stuffed box, which, though Lucas wouldn't directly see it, he knew had WEDDING!!! Scrawled on it in Lindsay's handwriting.

"Okay Lucas Scott. My troops are on the move, and they will be here in less than ten minutes. And here," she said, handing him three pages, which he knew were all filled with guest's names and numbers, "is your guest list. I think it would be best if you did called but, but Luke, if it gets to hard, Mouth or Owen, or Chase will help you out." Brooke finished, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and ushering him into his bed room, where she handed him a phone, and told him everything would be taken care of when he got done.

And three hours later, after he had called each and every person on that list and explained to them that there wasn't going to be a Lucas Scott and Lindsay Strauss wedding, as he walked into the kitchen, he had to smile.

There were three pizza's on the table, one cheese, one pepperoni, and one mushroom, and all of them were about half eaten. Music, that Lucas recognized as the mew artist Peyton had signed, Kate Voegele's, newest CD, Don't Look Away, was blaring from his stereo. At some point, the group must have either stopped working, or finished working, or at least Lucas hoped so because none of them were doing anything that had anything to do with weddings. Lucas was also learning there was a reason why Rachel had never became a singer, and Luke could hear it loud and clear as she wailed the words to No Good. Mouth was on the floor, sitting next to Chase, and they were both laughing so hard that if Luke hadn't heard Rachel singing, he might not have been sure if they were laughing or crying. Owen and Brooke were curled up on his couch, and Owen had his arm wrapped around Brooke's waist as she ate a piece of pizza. Occasionally, they would look over at Rachel and laugh, but they were mostly in their own little world.

It was Brooke who finally noticed Luke was standing in the doorway, watching his friends goof off in front of him.

"Luke. We finished all the calls. And your mom called. Her plane got delayed, and she won't be able to make until about ten tonight. She said she's sorry about Lindsay, but she's sure you made the right decision. And she's bringing Andy with her. And, we're all leaving now." She stated, turning off the CD player as she ushered all the people out the door. "And, it's mine and Owens's two week and three day anniversary, so we're going out." She added, throwing a knowing look at Lucas, and a prodding look at Rachel, Mouth and Chase.

"Mouth and I are going to Honeygrove. Just kidding." She added, seeing the frowns that appeared on Luke, Brooke and Mouth's faces. "I think we'll head down to TRIC tonight."

"Or maybe we'll just go to a movie." Interrupted Mouth, rolling his eyes at Brooke, and then frowning at Rachel.

"Right. Recovering addicts don't mix with bars." Rachel said sarcastically.

"And I'll just go make myself scarce. But kind of need a place to crash, so I'll be back at one."

"We'll all be out of the house by two thirty Luke." Brooke finished as she ushered the group out the door, blew a kiss to Luke and nodded towards the clock, which Luke could see read 12:13 p.m.

That gave Lucas just over two hours to come up with a plan, or at least part of one, to get Peyton back. But first, he had to open that box, he thought as he wandered back into his room. He stared at the box for a few minutes, before slowly walking over to it and removing the top, as though it was Pandora's Box. Surprisingly, the box was almost completely empty.

On top of a pile of papers, was the ring. The ring he had picked out for Peyton and gave to Lindsay. With a look of contempt and hate, that made it straight into the garbage can.

"Who would have though that after all those years of basketball, the only thing you'd be using it for his shooting boxes into a garbage can." Came a voice from behind the bedroom door. A voice that Lucas would know in his sleep. A voice that effectively stop his heart faster than any heart condition.

"Peyton."

"Lucas. Hey, I just wanted to stop by before you left for the church and tell you that I really am happy for you. You and Lindsay are perfect for each other. You guys are going to be so happy." Peyton said, standing awkwardly in his bedroom door, obviously unaware that the only remnants of Lindsay left in this room were the box that he was digging through and he and Peyton's completely screwed up relationship.

"Peyton."

"No, Luke, really I am happy for you. And I'm sorry I was such a bitch."

"Peyton. I broke up with Lindsay."

"What?" she said, shooting her head up, and locking eyes with Luke, sending a shiver up his spine. "Really?"

"Really. Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer, I love you. I always was, always will be."

"Luke, I-"

"No." he interrupted. "Not yet. I was a jerk, and an ass, and any other word you decide to use to describe me. But I'm going to make it up to up. I promise. Go home. Eat something, get some sleep, and I'll be there when you wake up." He said, smiling as he turned around, and as he heard her footfalls echo through the hallway, and the door shut, he decided he had never felt happier.

Focusing again on the box, Lucas pulled the four or five manila enveloped out of it. The first envelope, in the same handwriting that was on the WEDDING!! Box, read, _HALEY JAMES SCOTT._ The second was addressed the same, but to Brooke. The third envelope was thicker than the other two, and had Peyton scrawled on the top. And _Please, Luke, don't open this_. Scrawled across the bottom. And the third and fourth envelope's were both addressed to Luke, and as he opened the thinner envelope, he found him self incredibly nervous. But he needn't have been. The envelope had two pictures in it. One was of Lucas and Lindsay at a book signing, before they had started dating, and had only the date written out on the back, but the other one was more recent, taken of Luke, Lindsay, Haley and Brooke at TRIC one night. But if you looked closely at the background, you could see a flash of curly, blonde hair. As he flipped the picture over he wondered if he was the only person who noticed it. Apparently not, he realized as he read _Don't ever let her fade to the back ground again_, from the back of the picture.

The next envelope was most certainly the one that scared Lucas the most. It wasn't a manila envelope, like the others had been, it was a plain letter envelop, with only "Lucas" and a few round smudges, that Lucas could infer were teardrops, adorning the front. As soon as he opened it he saw it was a letter, and folded inside the sheet of paper was several hundred dollar bills.

_Dear M .Lucas Scott,_

_Working with you was an absolute pleasure Mr. Scott, and I hope someday, we can all come to surpass our personal problems and work together. _

_From,_

_Lindsay Strauss _

_LES/hdm _

_Obviously, you know whose writing this, so I won't bother to introduce myself. I just wanted tell you, before I was gone for good, that you are an amazing writer. Don't let this change that about you. Normally, I'd have to have you come back to the city to work with an editor, but I can have a few strings pulled, and I'll have a replacement down there by the end of the week. For Peyton's sake I'll make it guy .And please, Luke, give her the letter .Oh, and the moneys to compensate for the wedding costs. Sending it back won't work. I promise. _

_Lindsay_

The first part of the letter was typed on company stationary, and judging by the line underneath the signature, it was straight from the New York offices, and typed by Lindsay's secretary, Hannah Montgomery. The second part of the letter was handwritten though, and scrawled in Lindsay's handwriting.

Lucas sighed, and looked up at the clock, jumping when he saw that it was almost three. That was more than enough time for Peyton to grab a bite to eat and fall asleep; he thought as he grabbed the letter addressed to her and ran out the door, into his car.

The drive over to Peyton's house didn't take long. Well, at least the drive to Brooke's house didn't take very long. And he was pretty thankful for that, being as he could hardly contain his nervousness.

He easily found the spare key that Brooke hid under the mat and let him self in, smiling at the note on the table form Brooke.

_Broody- I didn't know she left. Sorry. But she's in her room sleeping. Like I said, we'll all be back around 1-ish tonight, call if you need more time. xoxo- B.Davis._

Following Brooke's instructions he walked from the kitchen to Peyton's bedroom, where he knocked once before he walked into the room. He smiled as he walked into the room and saw her sleeping soundly on her bed, in the same pair of faded jeans, and sweatshirt she had been wearing that morning.

He walked over to the bed, and laid three things down on it. First, he put Lindsay's envelope on it. And on top of that, he laid down a copy of his book, and lastly, was an index card, that had _Peyt- meet me at the river court at seven. Love, Luke _neatly printed on it. Then he quickly kissed her forehead, and left the room. Just missing the small smile that appeared on Peyton's mouth.

**A/N: Okay, so this was originally going to be two chapters, but I couldn't find a good place to break it, so the chapter's about twice the size of all the others. There's one or two chapters left, and I want to have this done before it becomes officially AU on Tuesday. Review! They really are great incentives to write. And thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far!! **


	6. Got To Get You Into My Life

Peyton sat up, the smile on her face that had appeared a few seconds ago still completely visible as she heard the front door quietly shut, and Lucas' car start up. It was only then that she saw the book and the yellow manila envelope sitting on her pillow. She reached over, her hand barley grazing the sleek cover of she had read so many times as she pulled the envelope out from underneath the book.

She could barely contain the impulse to throw it out the window when she read who it was from though. But she couldn't bring her self to do it. Nor could she bring herself to open it. Doubts flooded through her mind. Maybe she had just been dreaming, maybe Luke hadn't broken up with Lindsay. Maybe people always did leave. 

Thankfully, her fashionably dressed, beaming roommate, chose that moment to disrupt her thoughts as she walked into the room and sat down next to Peyton.

"B. Davis! I thought you and Owen were going out tonight. You said you wouldn't be back until about one. Are you two okay?" Peyton asked, worried that Brooke and Owen had been having some kind of problems that she hadn't noticed over the past few days. And with the state she'd been in, she wouldn't have put it past her to not notice that they had gotten married. 

"P. Sawyer. Would I be smiling like this if he had of broken up with me? We're fine." She added when she saw her comment had done nothing to put her friends mind to rest. "We decided to go for a walk, and it was pretty cold, so I came home to sneak in and grab a coat, and saw Lucas leaving, and smiley, with his Peyton face on, so I decided to come in and see what had happened. So what did dear old broody say?" 

"Nothing. He just walked in, laid this stuff on the bed and then left." 

"Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer. You are not telling me something."

"And he kissed me." She admitted, as she began smiling, the moment the words left her mouth. "And left this damn letter here." She grumbled as she threw the envelope into her friends out stretched hand. "What the hell am I supposed to do with a letter from his ex-fiancée, who hates me, by the way?" 

"A, she didn't hate you. Lindsay was so just jealous of all the Lucas Peyton vibes you two were throwing. And B, you have to read it. He left it for a reason."

"Yeah, but what if it's like some three page letter about what a whore I am, and how she hopes I go to hell, and wishes me the worst of luck in all my endeavors?"

"Peyton. Seriously? I know you were kind of biased, but even you can't think she was that bad of a person. I sincerely doubt she would do that. And so what if she does. She's gone Peyton. For good. Nothing she says now will have any effect on anything other than you. And if you don't let it, it won't be able to do that either." Brooke said, throwing a reproving look her way, along with the envelope.

Peyton slid the envelope into her hands, looking at it one more time before she slid the envelope open and pulled out a letter and a DVD. She took a deep breath before she opened the single, folded sheet of paper, revealing a handwritten letter, with what looked like tear stains on it. 

_Dear Peyton,_

_The first thing I ever read out of Lucas' book was "Peyton Sawyer is destined for greatness. Actually, she's already great, because Peyton Sawyer has a thing called Integrity, And nothing and no one is ever going to change that." And from that line on, I was hooked. I loved the way Peyton and Lucas interacted, and the way that they loved each other so much.. I never though that I'd be the person to screw that up. And I am truly sorry for that. I'm not sorry I loved him, because I'm not. I thought that if Lucas could write love that much, then he would be an amazing person to be with. When I heard you weren't in the picture, I won't say I wasn't elated, because I was. And I finally had my chance, and I shouldn't have taken it. Because even though I edited Lucas' book, I had no right to edit his life. I should have left him the moment he saw you again, because I knew, even then that what he wrote was real, and that he loved you. But I couldn't bring my self to do it. And I'm not saying that everything that happened was completely my fault, but what I am saying, is I am sorry for everything that was my fault. _

_I don't know who you're reading this letter with. I don't when you're reading this, or what your life is like. I asked Luke to give it to you, but I didn't tell him when, so it might be twenty years from when I wrote this, but I just wanted to you to know that Peyton Sawyer is destined for greatness. And that no matter what happens; I hope that Lucas Scott and her end up great and happy, together or not. _

_Truly, Best Wishes Peyton,_

_Lindsay E. Strauss _

"What's this Peyton?" Brooke asked, from over by the door, holding up the book. Peyton hadn't even noticed that she had moved, she had been so engrossed in the letter. 

"Um, it's Lucas' book. I think. Looks like it."

"No, it isn't." Brooke replied, flipping through the pages of the book, trying to see if she recognized the text from anything. "Oh my god, Haley said it was real, but…" Peyton heard her mutter as she looked at a page towards the front of the book. 

"What is it B?" she asked walking over to where her best friends was standing, and grabbing the book from here. And promptly dropping in when she read what it was. 

"It's another book Brooke. Another book, about me."

"Yeah, P. Sawyer. It is, and from what I read, it's just as mushy as the last one." 

"Brooke,"

"Yeah?" asked Brooke, who was clearly dumbfounded over what she had just read. Haley had told her he had written another book, but she failed to mention that it had been completely about his love for Peyton, again.

"I have go. To TRIC. I need to get out of here. Help me pick something out to wear later tonight."

Twenty minutes later Peyton had left the house with Brooke and Owen. She was dressed in a dark pair of jeans, and one of Brooke's tops that apparently been one of her birthday gifts. They were at TRIC, where Owen apparently had some things to take care of at the bar, and Brooke was hanging with him, though Peyton had a sneaking suspicion that Brooke just wanted to baby-sit her until she was sure she was in another pair of capable hands. 

From where she was sitting at her desk she could see them clearly. Owen was organizing bottles, and Brooke was drinking. What she was dinking at this time of the afternoon, Peyton had no idea, but from the way that Owen was looking at her, she pretty sure it wasn't water. She was definitely sure it wasn't water when Owen saw her drinking it and playfully snatched it away from her. As she watched her chase him around the empty club, her laughing, and him smiling, both of them occasionally stopping and laughing together, she wondered if that's what it had been like for her friends when that watched her and Lucas together. The two people you never would have set up together, so completely in love. It was cute, really, seeing Brooke so happy. 

She was still thinking that when she opened the book, or, well at that point, she realized it was just a manuscript, turned on some of Mia's music and started reading. And when six thirty came she was almost done with the book. Brooke had been right when she had been speechless over the book. It was amazing. Not only was the writing amazingly worded, it was sweet, it was funny, and it shook Peyton to the core. Just as Lucas' first book had done. And as she looked up at the clock, and saw the clock, which read 6:30, she almost jumped out of her seat she was so anxious to get out. She did trip over Brooke and Owen though, because they were lying on the floor, and even though the floor of TRIC was absolutely disgusting, Peyton was happy they were finally sleeping. She knew that Brooke had been so worried about Peyton's lack of sleep over the past few days that Brooke her self had barley sleep. Translating into Broke had spent the entire night rambling to Owen, so neither of them had gotten any sleep because of Peyton. Needless to say, the sight of the both of them curled up together made Peyton feel a lot less like she was taking advantage of her best friend's hospitality, which she had been feeling ever since she found Brooke fast asleep at the Clothes over Bro's register three day's ago because Peyton had been up all night crying and Brooke had stayed up with her. 

Peyton was so lost in thought that she didn't notice all the flowers in her car until she literally sat on a rose. She the sharp pain snapped her out of her head she felt her heart skip a beat as she looked around her car. Every visible inch of her car was covered in bright red roses. And in the rear-view mirror, was a note from Lucas, _Peyt-There's one flower for every day we were apart, to make up for them._

"How am I supposed to drive in a car that looks like it's been turned into a rose graveyard!" she laughed, even though she was completely touched by the gesture. 

"I guess you'll have to walk with me." Said a deep voice from behind the car, which Peyton would recognize in an instant. 

"Lucas. You didn't have to do this. It must have cost a fortune." Peyton said as Lucas helped her out of the car and they wandered down the road, towards the river court.

"You're worth it."

"Lucas-" She stared to protest, but was left wordless for the second time that night as she saw the river court. 

The entire court was lit up with dazzling, bright white lights, and in the middle of the court was a table, set up for a dinner for two. 

"Peyton let me start." Lucas said as he turned around to face her. "I have been sitting at that table all afternoon, trying to think of the perfect speech to say. The perfect thing to wow you into coming back to me. But I couldn't come up with anything. Everything I though of sounded so corny, and not worthy of you. So all I've got is this. Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer, I am one hundred percent completely in love with you, and only you. I want nothing more that to spend every day for the rest of my life with you. And I've got a ring." He said, continuing, and grabbing Peyton's arm as he saw her begin to protest. "I'm not going to ask you to marry me. But I threw out the old one. This one's new, and when we're ready, it's all yours Peyton. Because, frankly, I woke up this morning, and the thought of spending my life with anyone but you makes me nauseous. And I love you so much, so, what do you Peyt, will you give me another chance?" He asked, giving her a plading look, turning around when a few seconds later she hadn't said anything. "It's okay Peyton. I get it." He started, but was interrupted by her lips crashing onto his. 

"Lucas Scott, if you ever leave me again, I swear to god, I will kill you!" she laughed as she pulled back from him. "And I love you too. And next time you ask me to marry you, I won't say someday." 

**A/N: This is my least favorite chapter, and I'm not sure if it was because it was bad, or if it was because I had this idea of what I wanted to happen, and nothing seemed to fit. One chapter left, maybe two or three, it depends on how many reviews I get for this chapter. So, review! And on a side note, I really hope that Luke and Lindsay don't end up married tomorrow. Bonus points for anyone who can tell me the theme of the titles. Which actually, might be a pretty easy question.**


	7. Here Comes The Sun

**A/N: I was going to finish this last night, but I had something I had to do, and so, I decided to finish it today. Basically I'm completely disregarding the entire episode, in favor of more LP fluff. **

"Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer! You better be in here!" screamed Broke as she unlocked the door of the Scott house, only to be greeted by Karen Roe, not Lucas and Peyton, who she had assumed would be the only people at the house. "Oh my god! Karen! I'm so sorry. I didn't wake Lilly up did I?"

"Of course not Brooke. I am so happy to see you too!" the older woman joked, hugging the brunette. 

"I'm sorry. I've been up all night trying to get a hold of Peyton. She left last night with Lucas, and I can't find her. Is she-"

"Brooke. Don't worry; she and Luke took Lilly out to breakfast about an hour ago. They got home at about two o'clock, and Lucas said something about an unusable car, and that she was staying here." Karen said, as she put a pancake and some fruit on some plates, and brought them over to where Brooke was standing near the table, before sitting down and gesturing for Brooke to do the same. Brooke looked as though she was about to decline the offer, before she looked at the clock, and realized that it was almost noon, and Owen would be at work anyway, and sat down. 

"So I guess you heard about Lindsay?"

"I did, I can't say I'm that upset about it." Karen smiled, looking at Brooke, not knowing how close the two girls had been, and continuing when she saw Brooke nod in agreement. "I thought she was a nice enough girl, and she seemed to really like Luke, and Luke liked her, but it never really clicked with me."

"Like a puzzle piece where all but one side fit." Finished Brooke, adding "it was a line from Lucas' book," when she saw the confusion etched on Karen's face. "His new one." 

"Why are we talking about me." Came the voice of the man in question as he walked into the room, carrying his little sister with one arm, and holding what looked like a freshly showed and dressed Peyton's hand as she trailed behind them. 

And looking at Peyton made Brooke happier than she had been in awhile. For the first time in years, Peyton was smiling a real smile, and she looked well rested and like she felt like she belonged. Her blonde hair was down, and she was wearing a tee shirt and jeans, but she looked so happy Brooke wanted to cry for her best friend. And she did start crying when Luke pulled her into her arms and kissed the top of her head, almost as though it was a habit. 

"What's up B. Davis?" Peyton asked, noticing her best friend's odd reaction to seeing her and Lucas together. 

"Nothing Peyton. I just missed you." She explained as she got up and hugged her best friend, only then catching sight of the necklace that Peyton was wearing. 

"Peyton, what is on that necklace?" she said, her voice almost a whisper. 

"It's a promise." Interrupted Lucas, hugging Brooke back, and reaching for the ring that hung around his girlfriend's neck, as if to make sure it was still real. He still couldn't believe that Peyton had asked for it, and the thought of her, blurting out "Luke, can I have the ring?" at the table, after a few moments of comfortable silence had passed and then adding" I want to know that you're always going to be here." Well, he could have stayed in that memory for the entire day, but Brooke's voice shook him back into reality. 

"We should all do something, together. Um, like I said yesterday, Rachel is back, and Chase is in town for a while. We should all get together and have like dinner, or something." 

"Sounds good." Peyton said, "But who all will we invite." She asked, as she sat down at the table, next to Brooke, and waited as Luke grabbed a pad of paper, and sat down. 

"Luke, Me, You, Rachel, Chase, Owen, Mouth, Junk, Fergie, Nate, Haley, Jamie, Lilly, Karen, Andy, Skills, Junk, Fergie, Bevin, Tim, their son Nate, oh, and Millie." Brooke rattled, off, trying to remember everyone who had been at the river court on their last day of high school, and who they were dating. 

She and Peyton slipped into planning mode, and Lucas couldn't have been happier to just watch Peyton and Brooke talk.

Two hours later, invitations had been called out, and it had been decided that they would have the party at Luke's house, in the back yard, and Peyton had been sent out to go get Haley from the school, and Luke had tagged along. 

They walked along the road, opting to do that as opposed to driving because the weather was so much nicer than it had been last night. The only remainders of the downpours of last night being the occasional puddle and the darker than usual cement. 

"Luke?" Peyton said, stopping him when they were about twenty feet from the school.

"Yeah Peyt?" 

"I really, really, love you." She said softly, before leaning into kiss him. 

"I really love you too, Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer. More than you will ever know." He whispered into her ear before they heard the lunch bell ring and took that as their cue to go into the school. 

Both Peyton and Lucas had been to Haley's room before, so it didn't take very long for them to find their way to it, only stopping a few times to kiss before they heard Haley's voice wafting through an open door. 

"What book are they talking about?" asked Luke, not recognizing the lecture that Haley was giving. "And why are you smiling?" he questioned, turning around to see Peyton grinning from ear to ear. 

"Listen closely." She whispered, smiling even wider, if it was possible, when Haley began to read a section of the book out loud, to emphasize a point. 

""Suddenly it was if the roar of the crowd, the echo of the final buzzer, or the cheers of my teammates were sounding from a thousand miles away. And what remained in that bizarre, muffled silence was only Peyton. The girl whose art, passion, and beauty had changed my life. In that moment, my triumph was not a state championship, but simple clarity. The realization that we had always been meant for each other, and every instinct to the contrary had simply been a denial of the following truth. I was now and would always be in love with Peyton Sawyer." Can anyone tell me what they think about that quote?" 

"That it's a load of crap. Luke's engaged to his editor. That kind of love isn't real." Luke heard a boy say, and then he heard Haley sigh, and another girl cut in and defended Luke and Peyton's love. Though Luke wasn't really paying much attention to her class at that moment, actually, he was fairly preoccupied with kissing Peyton in the hallway, right outside of her classroom.

"Wonder what that boy would have to say if he looked out and saw us now?" Peyton whisper, smiling, as she broke this kiss.

"Probably "I love you, Peyt." Wait. That's what I'm going to say." He laughed, hugging his girlfriend before he lead her too the door.

"It's complicated." Peyton and Luke heard Haley say before they walked in.

"Talking about my love life again Hales?" Luke laughed as he and Peyton walked into the class room.

"And no, he is not engaged to his editor." Finished Peyton, direction the comment to the boy, and then smiling to the girl, who she realized was Molly, the girl from her room. 

"Lucas. Peyton. What are you doing here?" squealed Haley, walking over to her best friend, and Peyton. 

"Oh, Brooke was in a sentimental mood. Something about a big party to celebrate our two favorite couples being together." Finished Luke, pulling Peyton closer to him, for the effect. Completely forgetting he was in the middle of a freshman English class. 

Apparently, Peyton and Haley had too, because after a few second pause, to process the information, Haley's eyes snapped open and she ran forward and threw her arms around Peyton, making them both stumble back into the wall. 

"Congratulations you two! Ahh! Oh my god," she finished upon remembering that she was in a class. "Um, class, this is the author of the book we're reading and one of my personal best friends, Lucas Scott. And this, is his girlfriend," said Haley, hesitantly saying the last word, in case she had misread the statement about the two favorite couples, and Luke and Lindsay were back together. 

"Semi-fiancée, actually." Peyton interrupted, eliciting a confused look from Haley, and though she didn't see it, half the class, and a smile and tight hug from Lucas. "What, we know it's gonna happen someday, and I've got the ring." She explained, gesturing to the ring that was hung on a chair around her neck, and triggering another scream from Haley, and another laugh from both Peyton and Lucas. 

"Okay, and this is his semi-fiancée, Peyton Sawyer." 

"Anyways," Peyton said, blushing, "You are cordially invited to our dinner thing, tonight. Nate and Jamie too. All of us, Brooke, Rachel, Owen, Chase, Junk, Fergie, Skills, Karen, Lilly, everyone, they're all coming. It's at Luke's house, and we desperately need you over there to cook. Cause Karen hasn't let me in the kitchen since Luke came home and told her I almost burn my house down making cookies for Luke senior year."

"Guys, I'd love too, but I have to work now. I can come over right after school though."

"Actually, Principal Turner was delighted to have Luke come in and teach a class, especially since you're reading his book. So go, hang out with Karen and Lilly, and we will be home in two hours." Peyton explained as she pushed Haley out of the room and turned back to look at Lucas, who was already talking to the class, and smiled as she decided that maybe hearing Lucas talk for two hours about how much he loved her wasn't such a bad idea. Because even three years after it had been written, every time people began to talk about _An UNkindneess of Ravens _it still never failed to make her smile and blush and feel like bursting with pride, because it was about her. The only difference was now that pride didn't make her want to throw up, it made her want to kiss Luke, and she could do that now. Well, she could if they hadn't of been in a freshman English class, talking about her love life. Wow, had her life changed. 

"Peyton?"

"Oh, what? Sorry." she laughed, coming back to reality and turning to face the girl who had been talking to her.

"Did Lucas really come back into the school to get you after you got shot?" \

But some things will always stay the same, though Peyton, as she answered the question which always seemed to be on the tip of someone's tongue when they found out who she was.

"Yeah, he really did…" 

Meanwhile, as Haley looked around the kitchen at the Scott house she had to laugh. Karen was coking, and trying, unsuccessfully, to get Brooke to help, though from what Haley had heard about her skills in the kitchen, Haley thought that maybe that was for the best. Apparently, so did Owen because just as Haley was walking in, Owen was pulling Brooke out of the kitchen, with the instructions to decorate. 

"Karen, hey!"

"Oh, Haley." Karen said, laughing as she washed off her hands and hugged the girl who was as good as her daughter. "You look amazing." 

"You too, Karen. God, I missed you." 

"And I missed you. And your amazing husband and son, who happen to be out side, "decorating" with Brooke and Owen. I've got the cooking almost taken care of, why don't you go have fun."

"Are you sure? I came home to help you." 

"Go, just check on Lilly for me." Karen said, ushering Haley out and into the backyard. 

"Nate."

"Hey Hales." He greeted, pulling her down to kiss his wife hello.

"We are reading Lucas' book, in my English class. My best friend's book is on a required reading list Nate." Haley said, laughing, as she sat down next to her husband. 

"We always said he make something of him self. The question was only if he'd be alone when he did it. And where is he?"

"Giving a lecture on his book to my freshman classes. He and Peyton stopped by and said they'd watch my classes."

"He would need a group of teenagers to inflate his ego." Brooke said, plopping herself down on the ground next to where Haley and Nate were sitting and pulling down Owen next to her. "Always did have like the second biggest ego ever." 

"Second only to yours?" Asked Nate, Owen and Haley, all at the same time.

"I am offended. I was talking about Chris Keller" 

"I don't know. There are times when we could debate which one of you gets the prize. Get over it B. Davis." Nate teased. 

"You know what Nate." Brooke joked back, mock narrowing her eyes at him, "If your son wasn't so damn cute, I might hit you right now. But I wouldn't want to scar the poor thing by having to see his father get beat by a girl." 

"You'd never hit me Davis. You'd be afraid to get your clothes dirty." 

"I most certainly would…. probably be." 

"God I missed this." Haley sighed, perfectly content to sit, listening to one of her best friends sit and argue with her husband, while Brooke's boyfriend looked at them like they were high on something. The only thing that was missing was Peyton and Lucas, and, well, Haley could definitely remember a few times that they had kept all of them waiting, she was just glad that they would be coming together, smiling, semi-engaged, what ever the hell that meant. 

"You missed this; I would have killed them if I had to grow up listening to this." Owen laughed, pulling Brooke in closer to him and kissing her, as Nate did the same with Haley. 

"Just you wait until Luke and Peyton get here, you've never seen a real tree hill class of '07 party babe." 

**A/N: Okay, so I was going to finish this yesterday, but decided that I liked it, and I think I might continue it. Review and tell me if I should continue it, or if I should make the next chapter be the last one. Thanks! **


	8. All Together Now

"Never thought that I'd be unhappy to hear the last bell ring." Lucas laughed as he watched the last freshman leave Haley's classroom, and turned to face Peyton, who he was surprised to find was not nearly as happy as he was. In fact, she was crying, silently in the corner.

"Whoa, Blondie, what's wrong?" he asked, rushing over to where she was sitting, and gathering her up in his arms, hugging her shaking form. 

She said nothing, but she held her hand out, revealing a folded piece of notebook paper, which was doused in her tears. Luke took the pierce of paper, and once he saw what was on it, wanted to kill which ever of those freshmen had been stupid enough to write the note, let alone leave it on the floor. 

The note was, at first glance, just two girls, talking about how hot Lucas was, but it was three or four lines in the middle of the note that he could tell had reduced her to tears. 

_She should just leave him alone. God knows she's bad luck. _

_ I know, she kills everyone else, how bout she lets him live. _

_ Cause it'd be a shame if he were to die… _

"Peyton. These girls weren't serious. They don't know what they're talking about. I promise."

"But they're right, every I get close to does die. Or leaves, or turn into freaking stalker freaks. And you've almost died twice- You should just go call Lindsay."

"And do you remember why I said I came back that time, Peyton? For you, I came back for you. So that I could tell you I love you. Because I do. And nothing anyone say's is going to change that. Nothing. Now, come on, we've got a party to go to, and people to tell about us." He said, smiling as he pulled her up from the ground, and kissed her, before putting his arm around her and smiling as he lead her out of the high school, but not before he tore the note in half and threw it away. 

The walk home was quite, and comfortably so, the couple only stopping to kiss a few times as they meandered through the streets of the small town, enjoying the weather and the small town. About halfway through the couple's quiet walk though, they were interrupted by the opposite of quite, in the form of a very hyper looking Brooke Davis, and a very amused looking Owen. 

"And how is my favorite newly reunited happy couple?" said the perky brunette as she spotted Peyton and Lucas. 

"Great!" Peyton laughed as she leaned into whisper something to Lucas. "What the hell is she on and where can I get some?" she laughed. "What are you guys doing? I thought that you were helping out at Lucas' house?" 

"Well, P. Sawyer, that was before Nathan and I gave your mother a migraine from our constant bickering. Then I thought that maybe I could set the table…"

"And long story short," interrupted Owen, "she managed to break about twenty plates. So your mother sent us to TRIC to get some more." He explained, gesturing to the box that he was carrying, which Lucas and Peyton could now see held dishes and plates.

"Oh. Speaking of TRIC, Lucas, I forgot to check my mail when I was there the other night, so can we just head over there before we head back. Or you can go back and I'll just go alone, if you want to see your mom, and everyone." Peyton rambled, as Luke laughed. 

"Peyton, I will go with you. Luke, you go home, see your mother." Brooke answered for him, pushing Lucas and Owen towards the house, as she grabbed Peyton's arm and pulled her towards the night club. "So, Miss Sawyer, or should I say almost-Scott, how goes the relationship with McBroody?" 

"No. You cannot call him that. And you watch way too much TV, and, we're great. Really, really great. I haven't been this happy since senior year. God, I feel like something bad has to happen, to balance out karma, or whatever. How are you and, umm, McRoommate-of-your-ex-boyfriend?"

"Okay, at least my nickname was less than fifty syllables. And we're really good too. He's good. We're good." Brooke said smiling as Peyton unlocked the door to her office and grabbed her mail, heading into her office to read it while Brooke looked around the club, which never failed to seem eerie during the day, when it wasn't packed with screaming teens. 

"Let's go." Peyton said abruptly exiting her office, slamming her door shut and running out of the building, leaving a very bewildered Brooke behind her. 

"Okay. Peyton, is something wro-" she stopped talking though when she was shocked into silence as Peyton turned around to face her. "Peyt, what happened?"

"Nothing." Peyton replied, though her appearance said everything but that. Her face, which less than ten minutes prior had been happy, cheerful and full of hope, was now deathly pale, and her eyes were red, and puffy, as if she had been crying. 

"Peyton."

"Nothing is wrong." The blond said rather forcefully as she started walking in the direction of the Scotts house, holding a piece of paper in her hand as she ran as fast as she could towards the house, with Brooke following her. 

When they reached the house the party was already in full swing. Music Peyton recognized as Mia's was playing in background, and as she looked around, she saw almost everyone was already here. In one corner, playing a makeshift game of basketball, were Skills, Junk, and Mouth, versus Tim, Fergie and Chase. Laughing, and cheering in the corner were Rachel and Bevin, who were doing more talking than cheering, but every once and awhile, a go Ravens would escape one of the girls mouths. 

At the table, sitting, were Karen, Andy and, surprisingly, Deb, who no one had, known was even back. Haley and Nate were smiling, dancing, in their own little world, to Kindly Unspoken, and the Lilly, Jamie and a little boy that Peyton and Brooke could only assume was Nate, were playing what looked like tag in the yard. Only Lucas and Owen seemed to be not quite in the party mode, and Brooke knew that was probably because of the frantic _Something's wrong with P. _That Brooke had sent Lucas after Peyton had run out on her. 

"Peyton, what's wrong?" he asked, running over to where they were standing and hugging the blonde. "Peyt." 

"Not now Lucas, please." She said, in a broken voice, that Lucas couldn't bear to hear. "Later." 

"Okay." He agreed, looking over her head at Brooke, and shooting her a look he hoped said "I'll find out what's going on" before leading Peyton over to where his mother was sitting with Andy. 

"Andy, this is my-"

"Fiancée," Peyton smiled, flashing Luke a quick smile, in a vain effort to ease his worries. 

"Yeah, this is my fiancée, Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer." 

"Nice to meet you, Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer"

"Peyton's fine, actually. And I guess that would make you Andy."

"It would." He laughed, as he started to fall into conversation with the two younger adults, and before they knew it, Deb and Karen, who had disappeared into the house awhile before, were coming out, announcing that dinner was ready.

The dinner had been short notice, but you wouldn't have been able to tell that from the food. The chicken sandwiches, salads, fruit, and of course, chocolate chip cookies, looked as if they had been made by a five star chef, and as they all took their plates, they realized it smelled like a five star chef had made it too. Less than ten minutes later, almost all the food was gone, though thankfully, everyone had gotten more than enough food, when Jamie whispered something into his mothers ear, eliciting a smile and a nod from Haley, before she spoke up. 

"Firstly, I would like to say how great it is to be together, with everyone, again. And this was a great idea, but I just heard another great idea from Jamie, so honey, why don't you tell everyone what your idea is." She said, lifting her son onto his feet.

"I think we should all say what we are thankful for, like mommy and daddy and I do on thanksgiving." He said, smiling, adding, "Aunt Karen gets to start," when he heard most of the adults agreeing with his suggestion. 

"Well then," Karen said, "I am thankful for my family, the old, and the new. Lilly, your turn."

"I'm thankful for my brother." The four year old girl said, looking at Lucas. 

"Well that means that I have to say I'm thankful for Lills. No, really, I'm thankful for everyone I love, and for second chances, and for the chance to prove people don't always leave." Lucas said a few minutes later, after Andy, Bevin, Tim, Skills and Chase had gone. 

"And I am thankful that I get to have someone prove that to me. And my friends, because I really wouldn't be sitting here today if it wasn't for them. And my brother." Peyton added when it was her turn. 

"Well, I'm definitely thankful for my company, and my success, but I'm more thankful for my friends, who are just as good as family, especially when your mother's as good as Satan's wife." Brooke laughed, looking at Peyton and Lucas. 

"Stubborn people. I am really thankful for people who know what they want, and will spend hours groveling to get it back. Like Nathan." Said Haley as her turn came around. 

"Damn, I'm still thankful that I got into my house last night." Nate laughed, kissing Haley. "Okay, Jimmy-Jam, your turn." 

"I'm thankful that mommy and daddy sleeped in their room, together last night. And that we played rock band!" the little boy laughed, hugging his parents before he started eating. 

Three hours later only the Scotts and Peyton were left at Lucas' house, though, recently, the group had grown. Haley, Peyton, Karen, and Deb were in the kitchen cleaning up a few things, and Lucas, Nate, Jamie, and Lilly were in the back yard. 

"So, everything is going good, with Hales?" Lucas asked, turning to look at his little brother.

"Everything's going amazingly. Actually," he said, turning around to make sure he wasn't within hearing range of anyone, and continuing when he saw that they were alone. "Haley's pregnant." 

"Congratulations man! You deserve it." He said, hugging his brother as Haley walked out behind him.

"Well, I see you couldn't just keep your mouth shut, could you?" she laughed, hugging Nate. "Don't worry about it, we can tell everyone here. They're family, or as good as." She said before clearing her throat. "Everyone, we have an announcement to make."

"We're pregnant!" Nate said, smiling as all his friends came up to offer their congratulations.

"And," added Haley, smiling at her husband, "The doctor's can't be sure, but yesterday, I found out it's a girl." 

"I'm going to have a daughter?" asked Nate, with tears in his eyes. "A baby girl?" 

"Yeah, honey, we're going to have a baby girl." Haley laughed, smiling as she hugged everyone around them a few more times and then she, Nate and Janie left to celebrate as a family, leaving only Luke, Peyton, Karen, Andy and Lilly at the house. 

"I hope that you don't mind us staying here, Luke." Karen said a few hours later, around eleven, as she put Lilly to bed. "I know it's your house now, but I still feel guilty." 

"Mom. Don't even. I should be asking if you're okay with Peyton spending the night here."

"Keep it PG, and remember, your sister is upstairs." She laughed, before heading to her room with Andy. 

"You are staying here tonight, right Pety?" Lucas asked, pulling Peyton up into a kiss.

"Well, I was actually planning on going home, but I think I can change my plans for you." She joked, though she wasn't quite able to pull if off, because of the pain reflected in eyes, the source of which Luke still hadn't been able to determine. 

"Come on then," he said, leading her into his bedroom, where they changed and crawled into his bed, almost falling asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

And it was almost three o'clock in the morning when Luke was awoken by Peyton sobs. 

"Peyton, I need you to tell me what's going on. You've been acting out of it all night. What happened?" he asked, not expecting an answer right away, but fully prepared for a several more attempts to get her to open up. 

"He's dead Luke. He's gone."

"Who Blondie?"

"My brother." She said, still sobbing, sinking into the mattress and his arms as he pulled her closer to him and held her as she sobbed. 

**A/n: Okay, so I decided to continue this. Hope you like. Please review! **


	9. Cry, Baby, Cry

"His base was ambushed about two weeks ago, I guess. He was in critical care until last week, and then I guess his heart just gave out." Peyton explained to Lucas as she pulled herself closer to Lucas, welcoming the feeling of his arms tightening around her. "He was supposed to be home next weekend. He knew how upset I was about the wedding," she said, quietly, not quite meeting Lucas' eyes as she explained how she had called him half drunk and in tears the night he had proposed, "He was going to take me back to the base."

"Come here." Lucas instructed, pulling her off the bed and into his arms, kissing her before he lead them out of his room, and into the living room, where he put the tape in that Lindsay had seen the other day, holding her tighter as she remembered exactly what the tape was.

That tape was far more than just a recording of Luke and Peyton talking to Derek, because it had also been the first of many lasts'. It was the last time Peyton had ever recorded her podcast, it had been the last time Lucas had ever talked to Derek, but it had also been the last night that they had been together, and a couple, before the weekend he came and proposed. And this flooded through Peyton's mind as she watched Lucas fast forward through the part that he knew Lindsay had seen, and past the recording of the chat, to another video, this time of only Derek.

_"Peyton. If you're watching this, two things are true. Firstly, I'm dead, and I'm sorry about that. I really am. I tried as hard as I could to prove that people don't always leave. But I promise I will always be with you. The second thing that I know is true if you're watching this tape is that Lucas Scott is still in your life. And whether he wasn't until he delivered this tape, or if you're sitting here with him watching this with your two beautiful kids, that's a really good thing. He's a good person Peyton, and I know how you work. You'll pull away from him, because that's what you do. But don't. Don't pull away. Let him help you through this. And if he wasn't in your life before this, take it as a sign. Get him back into it. Because I've never seen you happier than when you were with him. My funeral is going to be in Washington, DC. If you don't want to come, you don't have to. But I've already told my mother that I want you invited. Lucas is invited as well as well, but up to you to ask him. And I can only assume that our father is going to be there. I don't know if he will be, but I'm sure my mother will have invited him. Peyton, I love you, and I wish you the best in life. And remember, __you can't live in fear. Life is about taking risks, not being afraid to go after what you want. And I love you Peyton. I'm sorry."_

"I want to go. To the funeral." Peyton said, determinedly, turning around to face Lucas. "I need to go."

"Are you sure? Peyt, you don't have to."

"No, I do. You don't though… I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go spend two days with me bawling." She joked, though her insecurities were thinly veiled as she searched his lighting blue eyes for some hint as to what he was thinking.

"Of course I want to go with you Blondie." He said, smiling, as he pulled her into his arms, letting her cry again as they both fell into a troubled sleep.

As the sun blazed through the window of the Scott living room, for the first time in awhile, Lucas was actually unhappy that he had been uprooted from his dreams. They had seemed so real, the little blonde girl, and the green-eyed baby boy had felt like they were actually right next to him, and for a second, as he heard the voice of a little girl, he though maybe it hadn't been a dream, until he opened his eyes and realized that Lilly was practically jumping on top of him, and that the beautiful blonde woman was missing from his arms.

"Lucas, why is Peyton sad?" asked the little girl as she woke her brother up instantly.

"Lilly Roe, what do you mean?" he asked picking her up, and sitting her on his knee.

"She's in the bathroom, crying. Mommy told me to come and get you. So here I am." She explained as Lucas got up and practically sprinted through his house towards the bathroom, where Andy was standing outside of the room, looking worried. As he saw Lucas running he knocked and slowly unlocked the door, revealing Peyton, throwing up into the toilet, and crying, and his mother, who had tears in her eyes as well as she held the blonde curls away from Peyton's face.

"Peyt. What's wrong baby?" he asked, sinking to the floor, and taking her in his arms. "Talk to me." He begged, crying as he pleaded with her to stop crying, or throwing up. Finally, after a few minutes, he kissed her forehead, and told her he'd be right back, gesturing for his mother to go in and sit with her until he got back.

He walked out to his back yard and pulled his phone out, calling the only person who he thought would be able to help him.

"Brooke. I need your help. Please pick up the damn phone!" he said, frustrated, repeating the sentence like a mantra, for what seemed like an hour until a disgruntled Brooke finally picked up the phone.

"What the hell Broody? Owen and I were busy."

"I don't care. And I sure as hell don't want to know. About that. What I do what to know about is Peyton. And I need to know, quickly."

"What's going on? Is this about last night?" she asked, her annoyed attitude disappearing almost as fast as her concerned one appeared.

"Yeah, actually Derek's dead."

"Psycho Derek, or Marine Derek?"

"Her real brother. He got shot, and she's not taking it to well. She's in the bathroom-"

"Crying her eye's out? And throwing up non-stop?" Brook said, and taking his silence as an affirmation, continued. "Yeah, she did that when her mom's died too. It wasn't as bad, with Ellie, I think by then so much shit had happened to her that she had mastered the art of blocking the pain out, so it was more crying, than puking, but a few times it got pretty bad."

"Is it like-?"

"Bulimia? No. She can't control it. Her shrink told her that it was her body's way of reacting to extreme stress, especially unexpected stress." Brooke explained, in a somber voice, remembering the nice man, who she knew her best friend had gone to see twice a week when she was ten, only figuring out who he was years later.

"When did Peyton have a therapist? I don't ever remember that."

"You wouldn't. You hadn't really even met her then. We were ten. It was right after her mother died. She missed days of school at a time, it was bad. She spent entire days in the bathroom, throwing up. And Larry, well, he had just lost his wife. If I remember correctly, he locked himself in his room and came out to eat about once a day. He didn't even notice that anything was wrong until I walked in on her on the when I went to drop off her school work. She was unconscious and barely breathing. He took her to the hospital, and it took a few hours and IV nutrients to even get her heart rate back to normal, and it took a day to wake her up. She hadn't eaten in a few days, and the only water she was getting was from washing out her mouth. She was almost dead. She was out of it for another week and in the hospital for another after that. Then she started seeing a therapist after she got out. Twice a week until she was thirteen, and once a week until she was fifteen. But she hated it. And she never told anyone, except for me, so when Larry started leaving her alone when he went on his trips, she stopped going. I think she went once more after the Ian thing, but that was because the school made us both."

"What do I do to help her?" he asked, crying, as his heart broke even more for the girl he loved.

"Be there for her. Hold her and make sure she eats and drinks. Try slim fast. That's what her doctor recommended. They're easy to drink and they've got nutrients. Or anything like that, really. But there's really nothing else that you can do. Anti-depressants aren't' even an option. She locked herself in her room for hors when her father suggested that last time. If you're there for her, she should be fine in a day or so. I'll stop by later, if you need me to, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Brooke." Lucas said as he hung up and ran into his kitchen, searching for anything that would fit Brooke's credentials, but only finding a Carnation Instant breakfast. He figured it was close enough, as he poured it into a bottle added some milk and ran back into the bathroom, finding Peyton in pretty much the same position as he had left her in as he told his mom he had in under control and pushed her out of the room, kneeled down next to her, and held her hair back as she threw up, yet again. As few minutes later, Luke took advantage of a break in the vomiting to hand her the drink and get her to drink it.

"I guess you talked to Brooke." She said quietly, after she had drunk most of the drink. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. After Ellie died, I thought I had it under control. I guess not."

"Peyton." He whispered, pulling her in, closer to him, "You have nothing to be sorry about. I was just worried, and I didn't know what to do, so I called Brooke. I was so worried."

"I still want to go." Peyton whispered into Lucas' shirt a few minutes later, "I still need to go."

"Okay. Do you still want me to come?"

"Of course. But you might want to go smoothie shopping, because I have a feeling that it's going to be a rough couple of nights. She smiled, go now, tell Brooke I need a new dress, get a suite and fine me some sweet clothes for DC. We leave tonight at eight." She said, attempting a joke, but failing miserably. "Go. I will be fine. If it'll make you feel better, you can leave your mother with instructions on how to feed me." She said, flashing a smile that somehow made it up to her eyes and laughing.

"Fine." He reluctantly agreed, leaning into kiss her, laughing when she pulled away from him.

"Luke. I've spent the entire morning throwing up."

"No shit, Sherlock. I noticed. And I don't care." He laughed leaning in, and this time actually kissing her before he left.

**A/N: Okay, so one or two more chapters. Then a sequel. Review! And I have watched the first four seasons and can't find anywhere where it says much about how Peyton reacted when her mom died, other than when Brooke said that she used to go down by the bridge. If there is something about that, then, well, this is already AU, so I really am not that concerned. But, if anyone is, put it in a review, and I'll see what I can do. Thanks! **


	10. The Long and Winding Road

"So, what are you doing here?" Brooke laughed, opening her door twenty minutes later.

"Peyton insists on going to Derek's funeral tomorrow, so I told her I would go out and-"

"Get new clothes, shoes and everything else?" Brooke finished, laughing, "Yeah, another one of her devices."

"Actually, she just sent me for new clothes. Does she want all that stuff?" asked Luke, who normally would fine the aforementioned task daunting, but at that moment, he would have done anything just to fix his girl, so shopping seemed to be a good fix.

"Yes. She does. New clothes that she will throw away as soon as she's done wearing them. She did that too. Would have driven her father insane if he had have been sane enough to care."

"I already called Skills and Mouth. You guys are going to the mall to pick this stuff up." She explained, handing him a list, "and I will go over to the store, make her a nice dress or two, and see what I can do about clothes for you." She said, finishing just as Skills and Mouth walked into the house.

"Hey man!" Skills laughed, walking into the kitchen. I hear we got some shopping to do for your girl."

"Hey Luke. Make sure Peyton know how sorry I am for her loss." Mouth added, following Skills into the kitchen.

"You guys need to go; you said the funeral's tomorrow, so you're leaving tonight?"

"Yeah, but I want to be back around three, to pack some of my stuff, and just be with her, before we leave, you know?"

"Yeah, Broody." She said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm, "I'll have the dresses done by two. And your suit too. Now go. Give me a call when your done." She ordered, pushing them out the door.

"So what is it we need to pick up for P. Sawyer?" Asked Skills as he grabbed the List from Luke. "Oh Hell No."

"What?"

"Listen." Skills said, as he read the items off the list. "_Strawberry, Blueberry, and Melon smoothies (24); those cute little goldfish pretzels; Coke (the soda, moron); A few of those wife beaters she likes to wear to bed and some shorts; two pairs of jeans and two shirts; an iPod shuffle; bras and underwear (Sorry Luke, I would do it, but I don't have time. I'll take care of everything else). Cheery. P.S. there's 400 dollars in the envelope on your dashboard Luke. _

"I call the grocery store." Mouth yelled, grabbing a few bills from the envelope and laughing as Skills sighed, hitting him.

"Fine. But pick up some beer well you're there." He said as they pulled up to the grocery store and pushed him out.

"Dude. You are so whipped." Skills said two hours later from the bench where he was sitting, watching Luke walk out of Victoria's Secret, with a grimace on his face.

"Lucas rolled his eye, replying only with an "It's really important to Peyt." Before he dragged a smirking Skills out of the mall and too his car.

"You must really love her man."

"Yeah, I really, really do." He smiled, as they pulled up to the grocery store to find Mouth, carrying about five cases of beer and about fifty smoothies and a bag filled with food.

"Man mouth." Skills laughed as he pulled the last case of beer into the trunk of the old car and closed the hatch. "How many things did you get?"

"They had a sale. So I figured someone would eat them. Now, where are we going?"

"We have to go to Brooke's to pick up our clothes for the funeral and the party thing after." Lucas explained, laughing as Skills rolled his eyes as he pulled the car to a stop outside of the boutique.

"I'll be right back."

"Man, we aren't going to be hear when you get back. We going home. Have a nice trip. And don't let my P. Sawyer get too hurt."

"Broody! Did you get the stuff?"

"I did. Do you have some clothes for me?"

"I do." She laughed, turning around to show him about five shopping bags full of dresses and clothes.

"Brooke. We are going to be gone for three days. What exactly did you get for her?"

"In bag one, I have three funeral dresses. In bag two, I have three dresses for the party afterward. Bag three has an Armani suit for you, bag four has shoes, and bag five has some stuff for Peyt. Now, take them, and go Luke." She said, smiling at him before she pushed him out the door. "And Luke, she broken, you know that, you just have to let her put her self back together, no matter how much you want to help. But she'll get there. Eventually."

"Thank you. Really."

"Anytime. And tell my best friend that I love her and I hope…"

"… you feel better, and to give her a call." Lucas said, smiling, about a half hour later as he started to show Peyton the dresses that Brooke had gotten for her.

They were in Lucas' bedroom, where he had found Peyton lying when he had gotten home. Apparently, she had moved into the bedroom about an hour after he had left, and had been in there watching TRL when he had gotten back. She was now comfortably seated on his bed, watching as he pulled out the six dresses that Brooke had picked out for her.

And it only took two hours for Peyton to pick out what she wanted to wear and pack, and before they knew it, Luke was saying goodbye to his mother and sister while Peyton waited in the car.

"Luke, take care of her. And call when you get there." Karen said hugging her son one last time before he bent down to hug his little sister.

"Good bye Lilly Roe Scott. You be good and I'll think about bringing you home a present, m'kay little girl?"

"I'm a big girl!"

"Right. Sorry. But I got to go now, so be good for mommy. Bye Lilly Roe." He smiled, giving his mother and his sister both one last hug before he hopped into the car with Peyton and drove off.

The six hour car was a long one, though it could have been longer, seeing as Lucas only stopped once, in Raleigh, to do something even Peyton wasn't sure of, not that she hadn't tried to get it out of him for the past two hours.

"Peyton." He laughed, "I am not going to tell you what I got you."

"But it's for me?" She smiled, happy with this piece of new information.

"No, it's for my new girlfriend." He laughed, but seeing her eyes could over, added a "you know I'm kidding, of course it's for you."

"If I start crying, will you tell me?" she joked.

"Nope. But I would have to kiss you." He joked back, even though the look in his eyes said the exact opposite.

"Let's play a game."

"A game. Like a road trip for kid's, game?' he asked, dubiously, looking at his fiancé skeptically.

"Not exactly. I ask you a question, and you answer. And if I think you're lying, I say something. And if I'm right, then you have to do one thing that I ask you to." She explained, smirking. "Something PG" she added when she saw his eyes light up.

"I was so not thinking that."

"Yeah you were." She laughed, before starting the game. "Okay, what is the name of your second book?"

"When the Comet Roars. Why'd you kiss Chase at the party?" he asked, earning a slap and a mock glare from Peyton.

"He kissed me, to make you jealous. Then I kissed him, to make Brooke jealous. What was the last dream you had?" she asked, noticing the blush creep up his neck. "What?"

"Well, it was about you… kind of. Actually," he said, turning his head away from her, "it was about kids. Two a blonde, blue eyed girl, and a brunette, green eyed baby boy." He said, finally daring to look over at her, and happy to see the grin that stretched across her face.

"I think I like that dream. Now ask a question." She commanded, and the game continued like that for an hour or so, until Peyton decided to shake things up a bit.

"Do you ever think about having kids?"

"Yes." He said, turning away from Peyton again.

"You're lying." She said smiling.

"Yeah." He agreed, smiling sadly, "what do you want me to do?"

"Tell me the truth."

"I used to want kids, really badly, but not with Lindsay. Something about the idea of a family with her made me nauseous. But yeah, I do want kids, and I want them with the woman I love." He said, stopping the car for a second to kiss her. "Okay, do you have names for your kids picked out?"

"Yes. Olivia, Madelyn and Ella."

"What about a boy, would they be destined to go through life nameless?"

"Yeah, we'd call him thing one. No, I kind of like Carson, Spencer, Cameron."

"Nothing after your mom's, or Derek?" Lucas asked, sure that one of the first names out of her mouth would have been Ellie, Anna, or Derek."

"Not for first names. Middle names. After my mom died I got this adorable stuffed bear. And I named her Anna, because I thought that It would help or something." She said, rolling her eyes when Lucas tried to suppress a laugh. "I was like 10, give me a break. Anyway, all it did was remind me of her every time I looked at it. My dad eventually threw it away. I was devastated. And naming a kid that, nah, I couldn't do that. But middle names, they're nice. Ella Elisabeth, Carson Derek…"

"Spencer Keith." Lucas added, smiling.

"Yeah, Spencer Keith. I like that."

"Peyton," Lucas said a few minutes later, after several thought filled minutes, "we aren't talking about this for any specific reason, right?"

"I don't know Luke. You brought it up. Do you have something you want to tell me?"

"You brought it up smartass. I just continued the thought process. And we're here." Lucas said, pulling the car to a stop outside of a house. Peyton knew it was Derek's mothers house, because that was who had personally invited her and Lucas to stay there, as opposed to in the hotel that they had been planning to stay at.

"Luke?" Peyton asked, turning to face him.

"Yeah Blondie?"

"Can I wear the ring?"

"What?"

"The engagement ring. The one on my neck. Would you mind it I took it off the necklace, and wore it, like on my finger?"

"I love you, you know that right?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah." He said, leaning in to kiss his, now official, fiancée after she slid the engagement ring off her necklace and onto her ring finger. "But we better go in. You still sure about this?"

"Yeah Luke." She said, taking a deep breathe before she got out of the car and felt the cool, crisp air wash around her, thankful to feel Luke's arm around her shoulder after he had grabbed their bag, as they walked up to the door, and knocked.

The door was opened by a woman who looked about Larry's age, and just like Derek, that Peyton assumed was Derek's mom.

"Mrs. Sommers?" she asked, tentatively

"Call me Emma. You must be Peyton Sawyer. The girl who ruined my marriage." The woman said, as Peyton's face fell and Lucas instinctively pulled Peyton closer to him, as if her being nearer to him could physically protect her. "Oh, I'm just joking. My son told me you were an amazing woman. And this, must be Lucas Scott." She said, as relief filled Lucas and Peyton, and Lucas shook her hand.

"I'm so sorry." Peyton said, looking at Mrs. Sommers. "He was a great guy. If it wasn't for him I probably would be dead right now." She said, thinking about how his advice had helped her to fight back the second time that she had been attacked.

"He died doing exactly what he loved to be doing. And he was a good man, so I know my son is in a better place now, but thank you dear. But I've got to warn you." She said, looking back at Peyton and Lucas. "Do you see that man over there?" she asked, gesturing to a man who looked a bit older than Dan and Karen, but not much.

"Yeah." Both Peyton and Lucas responded, nodding.

"That's your father darling. Warren Colefield."

**A/N: So, there might be more than one chapter left. LOL. Not because I have more material, but because this chapter was supposed to be the funeral and the trip back, too. But I got into that whole car trip thing (which hint-hint could be important, later.) and then I decided that they might go sightseeing. Have some fun. I really don't know yet. Review, and if you think they should go around DC for a day, I've been there quite a few times, so tell me some places that you would like to see them go, and see. Oh, and for all intensive purposes, Peyton and Lucas slept together in 5.07 / 5.08. So Lucas' worry seems a little less random. Review, please. **


	11. Nobody's Child

"My father?" Peyton whispered, taking a step back into Lucas' embrace, "Like me and Derek's father?"

"Yes Miss Sawyer. And when you're dealing with Warren, sometimes it's just better to go right out and say it. But, he doesn't know who you are, so if you really don't want to see him, you don't have to." Said Mrs. Sommers.

"Can I talk to Lucas, for a second?"

"Sure Peyton. Why don't I show you to your room, and we can all talk at breakfast." Mrs. Sommers said, leading Peyton and Lucas up the stairs and into a room, about half the size of Lucas', which was painted a deep blue. "Here it is guys. I'll see you two in the morning." She said before walking out of the room and leaving them alone.

"Did that seem weird to you?" Lucas asked, pulling the suitcase up onto the bed and unzipping it. "That she was so happy?"

"I don't know. People deal with death differently. I threw up for a month, until I landed myself in the hospital, after my mom died, my dad locked himself into his room, but my grandfather laughed a lot, and always was smiling, because he knew she was happy when she died. Maybe she's just one of those optimistic people." Peyton said, shrugging her shoulders as she grabbed a pair of blue shorts and a white tank top and changed.

"Peyton." Lucas said, in a questioning tone as she walked out from the bathroom ten minutes later, dressed and ready to crawl into bed with Lucas.

Which she did, as she said, "Yes Lucas?"

"Your father is downstairs."

"Yeah. I know. It's weird, because this is at least the third family member that I never knew I had."

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"I don't know. I mean I want to. But I don't want to. I mean he left me. With Ellie. He didn't want me. Why should I want him? I mean Ellie left me because she was a single, drug addicted person, who knew she couldn't handle me. He left because he was an ass. He's like Dan. And at least Ellie came back. She wanted to at least, oh, I don't make sure I was alive."

"So tell him that. Don't open up to him. Don't let him in if you don't want to. But you should tell him how you feel. It might make you feel better. And that's all that matters Blondie."

"Will you come with me?"

"Are you sure you want me to?"  
"Yes. I can't do this alone. I need someone to hold my hand, if he really is Dan's twin."

"Then I will be right by your side Peyton Sawyer, because I love you, and I would do anything for you." He said, pulling her in closer to him as he drifted into sleep, unconsciously hugging her waist so that she was as close as possible to him the entire night.

"You're up early." Lucas grumbled into the pillow as he looked up to see Peyton pacing across the room in a pair of jeans and what he knew was her favorite tee shirt, a fall out boy tee shirt that the band had I signed after they had preformed at TRIC.

"I'm not so sure it counts as being up if you never fell asleep." She sighed, turning around and sighing. "I want to go see him, now, before the funeral."

"You still want me to come?" he asked, adding "I guess that's a yes." When a pair of jeans, and a ravens tee shirt landed on top of him.

"Hurry up. I saw him go out for a walk about five minutes ago. If we hurry, we'll be able to find him."

"Okay then. Let's go." He smiled, pulling Peyton into a kiss before he quietly led her out the door of their room and down the staircase, quickly kissing her again before they headed out the door and into the cold morning air.

"Shit. It's cold out." Peyton exclaimed as the wind rushed around her and she automatically leaned into Lucas, who gladly pulled his TRIC sweatshirt off and put it around her shoulders, earning a quick "Thanks Luke."

"There he is." Whispered Luke, turning Peyton around to face the man who she knew was her father. The night before Lucas hadn't really been able to see any resemblance between the father and daughter, but in the light of day, Lucas could clearly see that they shared the same light blonde hair, and they had the same stance.

"Okay then. Here goes, well, everything." She sighed, taking a deep breath before walking over to Warren. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Oh, hello. You're Peyton, right, one of Derek's friends." He said, smiling nicely enough, as Luke squeezed her reassuringly, as if to say at least he's nice.

"Actually, I'm a little more than his friend. I'm his sister."

"Oh. You really don't look much like him, or his mother." He commented, totally missing the point that she was trying to make.

"Well, um, that's because I'm not related to Derek's mother."

"Well then how are you his…" he trailed off, realizing the connection between Peyton and himself. "Ellie."

"Yeah. I'm her daughter. Your daughter."

"Oh, look," he said after a few second pause, "I'm sorry I left, but I was twenty, and she was younger than I was, and I had just left my wife. Ellie was strong. I knew she could give you a good life. I couldn't. I'm sure you and Ellie did just fine without me."

"Well, I wouldn't know. I just met Ellie a few months ago. When she came to see me because she was dying of cancer. I didn't know her. She put me up for adoption." Peyton said, puling back into Luke as she yelled at this man, who she would have liked to call her father, but really, was no more than a stranger.

"They give you a good life then? I'm sure they gave you a better life than two druggies could have. At least you were happy."

"Happy? My mom was hit by a car and killed when I was nine. Then, I meet Ellie, and she dies, and then I got attacked, and almost raped and murdered by some psycho stalker. And my dad works a thousand miles away from me. So happy, wasn't really a word I would have used to describe my life. The only thing that got me by most times was Lucas. And he wasn't even already there."

And it was only then that Lucas looked at the man, and saw three things by his feet. Firstly, there was a suite case, then a pair of car keys, and finally, laying half empty on the ground, was a bottle of vodka. And just Lucas let out a sigh, realizing he was drunk, and on his way to skipping out on his son's funeral, Peyton realized the ssame thing.

"He's drunk." She sighed, letting out a dry laugh as she turned to face him one more time. "I wasn't looking for a father. I just wanted you to know that you're an ass. I hope you have a great life." She hissed, stalking off as she left Lucas alone with the man.

"Yeah, well I hope you rot in hell." Lucas murmured, before running off to find Peyton.

"Blondie. Peyt. It's going to be okay." He said, after he had found her under a tree a few minutes later, as he for the second time in two days, hugged her crying form to his body before looking at his watch and realizing that they had less than two hours to get to the funeral home.

**A/N: Short. I know. Next up-> funeral, then Lucas' surprise and sight seeing. REVIEWS ARE SEREIOUSLY APPRECTAITED! **


	12. To Know Her Is To Love Her

Peyton Sawyer had only been to Washington D.C. once in her entire life, before this trip. She had been in eighth grade when she had last been there, on a school field trip that was one of the biggest clichés in the book. The entire eighth grade class from Tree Hill Middle School had packed up and left for a week long trip to the capital. She hadn't wanted to go because the dates of the trip were on the anniversary of her mother's death, but after a two month battle with Brooke, and then realizing that her father wouldn't even be home, she had finally decided that she would at least go. No promises about not faking sick the entire time, but she would go. She wouldn't have traded it for the world now. Because that week, in eighth grade, was the week she really met Lucas Scott.

She had heard of him before, everyone had. He was Nathan's older brother, and Nathan, even in eighth grade, had been the one every girl wanted. And Brooke had him. And Lucas was the class joke. He was gangly, but still pretty cute, and he was nice. Always defended everyone, and he was polite and sweet, from what she could tell, and if the scandal of his birth hadn't been one of the biggest stories in Tree Hill's entire history, Peyton was sure no one would have even noticed him. But as it was, everyone knew the story of how the town hero's girlfriend had tried to trap him into a pregnancy, and the hero realized that he was making a mistake and left her for another woman. Because that's how everyone saw it when it had happened, and Karen never really cared what anyone thought of her, so that's how they kept thinking of it. He was Lucas. He was the illegitimate child of the town hero and the town whore. People didn't see the blue eyed, blond haired kid, who was really smart, and really good at basketball. Mabey even better than his so called brother. And to be fair, Luke never really gave them a chance, not that Peyton could blame him. For as long as Peyton could remember, Lucas always had been with a friend. Usually Haley and Skills, sometimes Mouth, or Jimmy Edwards, but he was never alone. But that didn't mean that he was mean, or rude. She particularly remembered a day in seventh grade when Tim and Nate had been picking on him about his fathers lack of interest in his life. If anyone would have even tried to pull that about Peyton's dad, she would have slugged him, and she could even see Haley getting a little frustrated, but Lucas just sat there and took it. And when Nate was done yelling, he politely raised his hand and asked to go to the nurses office. When he came back to class the next day, he was the same as usual to everyone else, but Peyton had a feeling that that's the day when the inherited boyhood dislike for each other turned into and adults full minded hate for the other. It was also the day that Peyton decided that mabey he wasn't as bad as everyone else seemed to think.

But Haley had gotten sick, right before the trip, and she couldn't go. And Skills' parents couldn't afford to send him on the trip, and Mouth and Jimmy were on the other bus, so for the first time in forever, Peyton had looked to the back of the bus, and seen Lucas' alone, listening to the Foo Fighters, reading a worn copy of Huck Finn. And if Brooke hadn't have decided to sit with Bevin, because Bevin's older sister was the captain of the cheerleading squad, which was Brooke's dream, and if Brooke hadn't have been dating Nathan at the time, she probably wouldn't have walked back and sat down next to him. But she was, and she was, so she did. And it had been quite a shock for Lucas to turn around and see Peyton freaking Sawyer sitting next to him, a good shock though, because even though she didn't know it at the time, he had been totally crushing on her since the sixth grade.

Not that Peyton hadn't noticed him though. She had, and she did think he was cute. And she knew her mother had always liked him. Her mother had been one of the few people to respect what Lucas' mother had done, probably because if what Ellie had done, actually, now that Peyton thought about it. And every once and awhile, along with the anthem like "that Nathan Scott is such a nice boy," a Lucas would replace the Nathan. But Lucas was Lucas, and Peyton was Peyton, and in eighth grade, that was all that mattered.

And Peyton had picked up his brand new iPod, and was scrolling through the songs, telling him that the new Foo Fighter's song was great, but the older one's were way better. And when she went to look for them on his song list and had found out he didn't have them, she immediately pulled out her iPod and began to lecture him on Foo Fighter's classics. They had spent the rest of the seven hour bus ride arguing about that, and basketball, and Mrs. Stewart's American History class, and High School, and Brooke and Haley, and Nathan, and as the bus stopped and Brooke turned to call Peyton, she promised him she would send him some of her old records, before running off the bus and leaving Lucas alone.

Haley had shown up the next day with some Antibiotics, and her older sister, Taylor, and Brooke had decided that her best friend was being an idiot, hanging with Lucas Scott, of all people, so Peyton and Lucas didn't talk for the rest of the trip, and sometimes Peyton wondered if Lucas even remembered her from back then, because she had been so different in some ways. She hadn't been as jaded, sure she had still been a bit of a pessimist, but she had been a pessimist since she was seven years old, but Jake, and Ellie, Derek, and Lucas himself, they hadn't happened to her yet. But it was still one of her absolute favorite memories from her childhood, and as she and Lucas steeped off another bus, in another time, she looked at the skyline, and remembered that trip for the first time in awhile.

"What are you thinking about?" Lucas asked, pulling her out of her daydream, as they walked to the church in downtown Washington.

"Eighth grade." She admitted, smiling up at him. "The Foo Fighters."

"Yeah, about that. I don't ever remember getting that album. Some girl told me once that only morons listen to just singles." He joked, hugging her tighter as they approached the church, "Peyton. I'm just going to say it one last time. You don't have to do this. You don't need to prove yourself to any one."

"Derek wanted me to overcome my fears. I need to do this for him. Show him that he wasn't wasting his time on me." She nodded, taking a step up into the church and taking a seat in the back.

The funeral was everything she had expected it would be. A lot of people who she didn't know, telling her stories about a Derek she never knew either. A lot of crying, and all in all, it reminded her a lot of Ellie's funeral. It effected you personally, but just like most people hadn't known Ellie had had a daughter, most people didn't know Derek had had a sister, and none of them would have guessed she was the green eyed, blonde girl sitting in the back row next to her fiancée, who just so happened to write a book that probably half of them had read, about her. Actually, she saw several people send her looks that clearly said "Who the hell are you?"

And that's the way she sat, listening to the people in front of her, trying to learn exactly who Derek had been, but knowing that no one knew she cared, until the last person went up to speak. Peyton knew from they was he was dressed that he was a military personnel, but she wouldn't have needed to see that to know who he was. His name was Carson Fleeter, and he had served with Derek in Iraq, and sat in on plenty of Derek and Peyton's web chats. The beginning of his eulogy was par for the course, so far. It began with an apology, and then went on to tell what a great person he was, but it was the favorite memory part that Peyton knew she would remember for the rest of her life.

"When I came into the church today, I had an entire speech planned about how Derek Sommers was one of the bravest people I knew, but eight people have already said that, and I saw something, someone, on the way in, so if you don't mind, I'm actually going to talk about how Derek has changed one persons life. Not the thousands of people he probably saved in Iraq, but the one person back here, who he saved. Derek Sommers was a great person, not only to those who he knew, but to those who he needed, and who needed him. And I will never forget the day that he walked into my office at the base and told me he had a sister. And I looked at him like he had three eyes, because I had known his family for years, and I had never heard of a sister, well, I take that back, I knew there was a sister, but they didn't talk about her. And he must have seen the confusion on my face because he went on to explain how his father had left him as a little kid for another woman, Ellie, and she had had a daughter. The girl had been put up for adoption and went to a happy family. From what I understood though, that poor girl's life was far from happy. Her adopted mother died, and her birth mother died, and her father left to work a thousand miles away. And Derek had no reason to care that this perfect stranger's life had been this hard, his certainly hadn't been easy, but he did care, and in the end, that's what brought him to her house the day he saved her life. And after that the hazel eyed blonde became an almost permanent fixture in his life. He spent all of his spare time at her house, he painted, cooked, changed many locks and sat guard, both physically, and spiritually, and when he left she was his biggest worry. He knew his mother would be fine, and his friends would survive, but he wasn't sure Peyton, his sister would. He would check up on her once a week, and our entire troop in Iraq watched her grow from a high school girl, to a woman, and he was so proud of her. Hated Lucas for awhile, but he got over it. Especially after he got a first edition cope of Lucas' book, when he read it he knew right then that no matter what happened, Luke and Peyton would be together. But he wanted to be sure she would be okay, and that she would make it if something happened to him, while he was over here. And I talked to her enough times to get the drift that if something ever happened that she wouldn't be able to come. Her boyfriend, the Lucas I had mentioned before, was the only person who she would trust to bring, and the last time I talked to her, he was engaged to another woman. But when I walked in here today, I saw the last thing I ever expected to see. Peyton. In the last row, with an engagement ring on her finger, holding Lucas' hand. And I know it would have meant the world to Derek, to see his little sister here, happy, and I just thought that she should know that. And I thought that everyone should know what kind of person he was, because I know for a fact he saved that girls life at least two times. And he had no reason to even look at her, but he chose to. And when he looked, he saw someone who was worth helping." Carson said, sending a smile back to Peyton, as everyone else in the church turned to face the blonde, now recognizing her and her apparent fiancée. "Thanks Peyton. He would be proud." He nodded, before descending the steps. The rest of the funeral passed in a teary blur, and before Peyton knew it she was pulling Lucas behind her, over to where Carson was standing.

"Carson. Hey."

" Sawyer. How are you holding up?"

"Better than I though I would. Lucas it here, and that really helps." She said, smiling sadly has she squeezed Lucas' hand.

"Yeah, congratulations on that, by the way, another thing your big brother would have been proud of you for. So you're not coming to the burial?"

"How'd you guess?"

"You have the cop out look on. It's okay. I'll tell Mrs. Sommers you said goodbye. Why don't you stay here, and say goodbye to your brother, and I'll go talk to Lucas for a second, okay?"

"Yeah." She agreed, silently asking for Lucas' approval and receiving a kiss and a light push towards the casket that Peyton took as it.

"This is for her." Carson said, turning to Lucas, as he watched Peyton stand inline to say goodbye to her brother. "Derek wanted to make sure she had it, but he knew she wouldn't stick around for the burial, so he wanted me to give it to her. It's some of the CD's that we all got, limited edition, and some signed tee-shirts from a few of the artists' over seas tours. He collected them all for her, no one else had the entire collection, and they're all in mint condition. He was either going to give them to her when we got back, or now. And I'll make sure all Peyton's stuff ends up in the trash, so don't worry about that." He explained, recounting how he had noticed the duffel that Peyton had brought in to the church with as he handed Lucas a medium seized box, just as Peyton approached her brother for the last time.

"Derek." She whispered, "I love you so much. Thank you for saving my life, so many times, in so many different ways. You were right, about the no fear thing, by the way. I'll miss you big brother. The first song on the mix is I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness's The Owl, and the last one's a Foo Fighters special edition cover of The Star Spangled Banner. Enjoy it." She said, dropping a mix tape into the casket as she turned around one last time and walked out of the church, with Lucas behind her.

"Are you okay Peyton?"

"Not really. No. But I will be. Can we do something fun tonight?" she asked as they sat down on a bench and she settled into his arms.

"Actually, remember when we stopped in Raleigh. And I picked that stuff up?"

"And you wouldn't tell me what it was. Yeah."

"Well, surprise." He laughed pulling out a manila envelope, which she opened up as soon as she had gotten her hands on it, gasping when she saw what was in the envelope.

"Luke!"

"I know you could have gotten in free, but I wanted to surprise you, and I knew you would want to surprise Mia, and you couldn't do that if she knew you were coming."

"Luke! I love you! Thank you so much! But the shows in DC, and we don't have a place to stay."

"Shh." he said, putting his finger up to her lips. "Don't you worry. She's playing at Five Club tonight, and we're staying at the Hay-Adam's. We can go change, and you can look through the box of stuff. Then, we'll head up from hotel, see Mia, and we can go to a few of the museums around town, and we'll leave tomorrow night. Okay?"

"This place is gorgeous," Peyton sighed as they check into their room an hour later. The small five star hotel was right in downtown DC, and was about minutes away from Five Club, thankfully, because by the time that they got checked into their room, showered, and dressed, which took Peyton forever, because she claimed "she had to look professional" for the show, they only had about two hours to go to dinner if they wanted to make the beginning of the concert, which started at seven. "Luke! Hurry up! I'm starving!" She laughed as Lucas rolled his eyes, threw on a shirt and joined his fiancée as she walked out the door, looking every bit the part of high class manager, that she was.

"Where are we even going?" he laughed.

"We are going to the Hard Rock Café."

"You cannot be serious. Peyton. We are in Washington DC, we are not going to eat at the Hard Rock Café."

"Want to bet?" she smirked before she turned into a building, and Peyton opened the door to reveal, The Hard Rock Café. "My mother loved these places. She always used to by me a tee shirt and I had this huge collection of them at home, I think they're in storage now, but I'm not really sure, actually. This was the place where she bought the last one." She explained, as they took a table and quickly ordered, both parties ordering the same hamburger and fires meal with a coke.

"I told you we were eating here." She laughed after the waiter had left.

"Do you even remember the last time we were here?" he asked, laughing, as she dug back through her memories, trying to remember the eight grade trip, smiling when she finally remembered what he was talking about.

"How could I forget? Me, Brooke, Tim and Nate and You, Skills, Haley and Faith, I think, all ended up in that hallway. And Brooke and Nate were drunk beyond belief."

"And Haley was so mad at me because I offered to come help you watch Brooke and Nate while you tried to sober them up."

"Yeah. Why did you follow me anyway? You hated Nathan and Tim on principal, Haley hated me and Brooke, ironically enough, because we were cheerleaders, and because Brooke was dating Nathan, and she hated him too."

"I followed you because three days before that you spent seven hours talking to just me. And I was already basically in love with you. You probably could have asked me to follow you off a cliff, and I would have gladly done so."

Two hours, two hamburgers and a few drinks later, the couple was rushing through the streets to make the show on time. Thankfully, The Hard Rock Café was only a few minutes from the club where Mia was playing, so they were only a few seconds late as they rushed into the club.

"Shh. Be quiet Luke. We don't want to attract attention." Peyton hissed as they tried to walk into the club and not attract any attention because they were so late, especially as they heard the announcer announce that Mia was on the stage. But they had no such luck, because just as they were walking to an empty seat, they heard Mia's voice yell out "Peyton Sawyer! What are you doing here? Hold on." She laughed, hearing Mia turn to talk to the manager of the club, saying what Peyton assumed was something along the lines of my manager just walked in and I need to talk to her, because the next thing she knew, Mia was walking towards her.

"Peyton."

"Mia. Hey. How are you doing? How's John being?"

"An ass, as always. I missed you. What are you doing here?" she asked, turning to Lucas.

"Oh, Mia, I think you know my fiancée." She laughed, smiling as Luke mumbled "Oh God." And Mia screamed "Since When?"

"Since last week, actually," Lucas cut in, "I realized that it's always been Peyton. And I love her more than words." He smiled, hugging his fiancée, as if to prove that he wasn't lying."

"Okay. But if you hurt her, I'll hurt you." She laughed, before turning back to face Peyton, I got to go play, but come backstage with me. You're my manger, and you've never even been to one of my shows. Not that there's been many but, you know."

"We'd love to." Peyton smiled as she and Lucas walked with Mia backstage. And smiling even wider a few minutes later, when she was sitting backstage on Lucas' lap, and she heard Mia begin to address the group.

"So, I know all you guys were thinking that I was going to start with Only Fooling Myself, but there is someone really special, my manger, in the crowd tonight and the first song that she ever got me to play was No Good, so I'm going to open with that, okay?" she said, and was responded to with a huge round of applause.

Three hours later, Luke and Peyton lay in the bed back at the hotel, in each others arms, Peyton sighed contently into Luke's tee-shirt from the as they lay there in the same clothes they had worn to the show, to tired to change.

"You know I really love you Luke, right?"

"Course I do Peyton. And I love you so much too. Is something wrong?" he asked, propping himself up to face her.

"No, nothing wrong, but I kind of got an idea, you know from this Derek thing, and how he was just there and then he was gone, and he never got the chance to do so many things he wanted to do."

"Okay. What do you want to do then?" he asked, expecting a donation to the army, or a yearly visit, but definitely not what came out of her mouth next.

"Let's get married Luke."

**A/N: Okay, really longer chapter. And it probably could have been broken up into two shorter one's, but I like the longer on because it just seemed to choppy when I cut it, so it's one long chapter, I'll say it's to make up for the other day's when I didn't post anything. LOL. Okay, so REVIEW! PLEASE! And tell me what you think, oh and somehow when I was cutting and pasting drafts, the disclaimer kept getting cut off, so here it is for the whole story: I SO DO NOT OWN ONE TREE HILL. IF I DID LINDSAY WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN EXISTED, AND LEYTON WOULD BE ONE VERY HAPPY COUPLE, AND JAMIE WOULD HAVE A COUSIN OR TWO. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING ELSE I MENTION IN THIS FIC EITHER. NOT THE BOOKS, OR THE MUSIC, OR ANYTHING AT ALL. It's in all caps, because I forgot it so many times. Thanks. Review! **


	13. Tommorow Never Knows

"Married?" he asked, stuttering as he sat up completely, looking at his fiancée. "Like elope?"

"Yeah. Here. If we call Brooke, Nathan and Haley, they can be here by the morning. And we can have our own little ceremony. Just the five of us." She said smiling, as she searched his eyes for an answer, but finding nothing readable in the ocean blue gems.

"Peyton, you know I love you-"

"This is really starting to sound familiar, and if the next sentence out of your mouth includes the word someday, we will have officially come full circle."

And for the first time ever, Lucas finally understood what Peyton had felt when he had proposed to her in Los Angles four years before. He understood the fear of being proposed to because of some insecurity or fear, and he understood the someday, now. But as he mulled through his thoughts, he realized that he wasn't in the same position that Peyton had been in when he had proposed to her. They were a much stronger couple now, and they understood each other now better than ever, and most importantly, they were ready for marriage. The forever thing wasn't such a big deal, and they were ready to face it this time, together.

And with that in mind, the blue eyed blonde, who had been through so much, and put the blonde artist next to him through so much, turned around, and leaning in to kiss Peyton, whispered, "I am really glad, that someday is today, so yes." before pulling her back into his arms and falling into a sleep, this time, that was far more peaceful for both members of the duo.

As the morning sun shone in through the fourth story hotel room, Lucas was woken from his dreams, again. And again, it was the same dream he had been having since he had gotten back together with Peyton. The two same kids, a blue eyed, curly haired blonde girl, and the brunette, hazel eyed boy were the same in all of them, but little pieces were being revealed to him every night. Two nights ago, they had gotten names, and last night, music and basketball had made an appearance in both of the kids' lives. He couldn't figure out what the dream meant. He wasn't a psychic, so he wasn't anticipating the kids to actually make an appearance in his life, but as he lay in bed, feeling the sun wash over him, he realized maybe it wasn't something that literal, that maybe it just meant that he and Peyton were ready to take this step this time. Maybe it was a sign, he thought as he went to pull Peyton closer to him, but found himself hugging sheets.

"Peyt?" he asked, opening his eyes and blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw her crouched in the bathroom. "Blondie? What's wrong?" questioned Luke as his feet automatically carried him to the bathroom.

"Nothing Luke. I'm fine." She said, unconvincingly smiling at him from the floor as she attempted to stand up, falling as she did so into his arms. "Fine. Just a little upset."

"Are you sure? You don't really look good. No, I mean," he added when he saw her roll her yes, "you look great, but you look sick."

"I am fine Lucas Scott. Now, I just got off the phone with Brooke and Haley. They think we're crazy, but they're on their way. And they're happy for us." Peyton said, still looking downcast as Lucas walked out of the bathroom and into the main room of the suite, turning on his laptop.

"Brooke?" he asked a few minutes later, over the phone.

"Morning Broody. I hear you and P are getting married." She laughed. "Congrats. Me and Naley are just about to leave."

"Yeah, about that. There's a nine o'clock flight out of Tree Hill, and if you get to the airport in twenty minutes, you'll make the flight. I already booked three seats. Something's not right with Peyton."

"Broody, of course we'll take the flight. We'll meet you at the airport in…" Brooke trailed off, sounding worried, about her best friend and her best friend's fiancé.

"Five hours. The plane gets in at one. We'll meet you there."

"Sounds good. Luke take care of her." Said Brooke, hanging up as she went to tell Nate and Haley about their change in plans as Luke turned around to find a fairly angry looking Peyton.

"Lucas. I told you. I'm fine. You had no reason to call and worry her." She said, shrugging away from him as he walked over to her.

"Peyton, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you to be okay."

"I know. I'm sorry for freaking out. I've totally lost my mind," she said, sighing as she fell back into the bed, pulling him with her. "So their plane gets in at one?"

"Yeah. At Reagan. So we should probably be at the airport around noon. Which means we have four hours to do whatever we want."

"Lets go to the Smithsonian Museums." She laughed, sitting up.

"That's not exactly what I meant." Replied Lucas, looking disappointed.

"I know. But I didn't go last time we were here. The day we went was they day my mom died, and I stayed and watched pay per view and TRL all day. It was actually pretty nice. Brooke gave me her dad's credit card and I ordered room service and pizza all day too."

"Sounds like you had a blast. The museum wasn't that much fun anyways. We could stay in the room and order room service."

"But Luke, I really, really want to go."

"Why?" he whined, even though they both knew that they would go wherever she wanted to.

"Because my mother loved Washington and the Air and Space museum was her favorite place in the world."

"Peyton, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I never told you. Why would you?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. Let's get dressed, and then we spend a few hours over there." Luke said, pulling Peyton up and going to take a shower.

Three hours later, Lucas and Peyton walked out of the Air and Space Museum, laughing, holding hands, walked slowly down to crowed street.

"What are you doing?" Peyton laughed, looking up at Lucas.

"What are you talking about?"

Peyton tilted her head, gesturing down toward her, and Lucas', intertwined hands, where Lucas looked, and saw that he had been unconsciously running his fingers along her engagement ring.

"Oh. I guess I just can't believe you're really wearing it. On your finger and that you really want to get married."

"Do you not want to?" Peyton said, stopping and turning to face him. "Because if you thing we're rushing it…"

"Shh." Lucas laughed, putting his finger over her lips to quiet her. "The only thing I have ever wanted more than this was for you to come back to me in the first place. I want nothing more than to marry you. I just thought you would want a big wedding, with Brooke's dress, and groomsmen, and bridesmaids, and a huge church and flowers."

"I did, when I was little. But then my mom died and when I went to her funeral, and there were just so many people that we didn't know telling me they were sorry, when they didn't even know her. And I just though it was stupid, for people to pretend to feel something like than. Why would you invite a ton of people to your wedding who you don't know? I just want the people who I know, and love and trust." Peyton explained.

"And…"

"And what?"

"Peyton Elisabeth Sawyer. You may believe that, but it is not the only reason, or even the main reason why you don't want a big wedding."

"Fine. You're right." She agreed, leaning in, to kiss him, in an attempt to get his mind off the subject at hand.

"Oh, no. You're not getting away that easy." He laughed, "What's the reason."

"This is going to sound really stupid, but there's only one church in Tree Hill that I would want to get married in. The one my parent's got married in, which also happens to be the one you and Lindsay almost got married in. But can't get married there Luke. It would be too weird."

"I am so sorry Peyton." Lucas said, pulling her in, closer to him and kissing her. "I took your dream wedding from you, and I'm sorry."

"Stop being such a drama queen. It's really no big deal. Al long as it's you I'm marrying; I would marry you on Mars. Actually, that'd be wicked sweet. Mars wedding. Think you could arrange that?"

"This is why I didn't want to go to the space museum." He laughed, before looking at his watch. "Shit. It's almost twelve thirty. We are never going to get there on time." Lucas said, laughing as he pulled Peyton down the street in the direction of the car."

"Peyton! Lucas!" Brooke yelled as she ran into the airport, smiling. "How are you? Wait, stupid question. When you left you were semi engaged, and now you're getting married. Obviously you're great."

"Yeah, we're really great. How's Owen? And where are Haley and Nate." Peyton laughed, hugging her best friend.

"Owen is amazing, he's actually looking after the store and Jamie this weekend. And Nate and Tutor Mom are-"

"Right here." Haley interrupted, hugging Lucas hello, and then turning to Peyton, and leaning in to hug her before something stopped her. "Peyton, do you have something you want to tell us?"

Peyton visibly paled as she pulled Haley away from the crowd, but Lucas, who was still overly confused, figured that whatever was going on couldn't be too bad, because Lucas heard a squeal and congratulation from over where they were standing, and turned around to see Haley almost suffocating Peyton she was squeezing her so tightly.

"Brooke, come on. We have to go do something." Haley said, pulling Brooke away from Lucas and Nate. "Lucas, we have to go, um, pick Peyton out some wedding clothes. Nate you two have fun, and we'll meet you at the court around five. Love you guys." Haley finished, as she Peyton and an extremely pissed off looking Brooke left the airport, leaving Nate and Lucas in the terminal.

"That was really weird Lucas."

"Yeah it was."

"So what exactly do you want to do for three hours?"

"Oh, it has nothing to do with want. I need to pick out wedding rings." He smiled as he and Nathan left the airport too.

Three hours later, Lucas and Nathan made their way into the courthouse, they found the three girls, all of them looking really excited and walked over to them hoping to surprise them, catching bits of their conversation as they did so.

"So how'd you know Haley?" they heard Brooke say.

"I've been there. She just looked different." Haley answered, stopping when she saw the guys coming over to them.

"Lucas Scott. We have decided that it's fine that you two elope, but when you get back, you're having a big ass wedding." Brooke laughed, but her laugh turned to a smile when she saw Lucas' face as he watched Peyton walk out of the bathroom, looking absolutely gorgeous in one of Brooke's dresses.

"You look amazing Blondie." He whispered, kissing her.

"You too. Luke. I love you."

"I love you too. A ton." He laughed before leading her over to the clerk.

And before they knew it, the clerk had signed the papers, and Peyton and Lucas were married, and they group was about to head out to dinner, before heading home.

"Your ring is amazing Peyton, Luke you and Nathan did a great job picking that out. It's very Peyton-y. Pretty, but not overpowering." Haley commented, looking at the ring."

"I feel extremely left out." Brooke smiled, looking at her best friend.

"What wrong B. Davis?"

"I'm the only person here who isn't a Scott. Lucas Scott, Nathan Scott, Haley James-Scott, now you're Peyton Scott. And I'm Brooke Davis." She explained, putting emphasis on the "Davis".

"Peyton Scott." Luke said, smiling, as he kissed his new wife. "Peyton Elisabeth Scott."

"It sounds nice." Peyton laughed, "And I'm sorry Brooke. You could marry Dan. Then you'd be Brooke Scott. And everyone's step mother."

"Oh, that is just one hell of a disturbing thought Sawyer, Scott. How are we going to keep each other straight? There's like eight Scott's now. And we all call each other by our last names." Nate laughed, though he was still shuddering about the though of Brooke marrying his father.

"Nate's right. And that's sick P. Scott. Sick." Brooke laughed. "And aren't you two going on a honeymoon or something."

"Well, we figured we'd go after our big wedding." Peyton answered. "Remember, the one you told me I had to have while we were out today."

"Well, then let's at least have a damn good dinner to celebrate." Nate said.

And have a damn good dinner, they did. Two hours later, as they made their way out of the city, Lucas looked over, and saw his wife, fast asleep next to him, and in the backseat, Haley was fast asleep on Nathan's lap, and Brooke was on the phone with Millicent.

"So, Brooke?" What's going on with Peyton?" he asked after she had hung up.

"Nothing. I mean, I don't know if you heard or not, but she just got married."

"Really? I had no idea. I mean what happened at the airport with Haley and her."

"Oh. That." Brooke said in a deadpan tone that clearly said that she was hoping he had forgotten about that. "I can't tell you. But, I can say that you will know by tomorrow, and that as long as you're the guy I think I've known for the past ten years, then you will be ecstatic."

"Really?"

"Really, Really, Mr. Scott. Now, how about we switch seats, and I'll get Nathan into the front seat, and you and your wife can sleep in the back with Hales."

"Sounds good," he laughed pulling over as Brooke woke up his brother.

"Nathan Scott. Wakey-wakey. Come on. We're going up front." She laughed, prodding him to get up as Lucas picked his wife up and carried her to the back, stepping to the car and situating himself so that they were both comfortable.

"Luke?" Peyton murmured, having been woken up but the movements. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Mrs. Scott." Nathan answered her form the front seat. "And by the way, it sounds way better on you then it does on my mother. Go back to bed, enjoy your wedding night. In the back seat of Lucas' car, with my wife." He laughed, watching her snuggle closer to a now fast asleep Lucas and then looked as his own wife, who seemed to be the only one of the group who had made it through the first hour of their trip without waking up.

"So, Brooke, what's going on with Peyton?" he asked, hoping to get some more information out of her than he had gotten out of his wife.

"Go back to sleep." She commanded, laughing when a few minutes later he followed her advice, and the others' lead, and fell asleep.

"Wake up!" Haley yelled, what seemed five minutes later, from outside the car. Though the scenery was nothing like what was expected. They were in Nathan's driveway. But the sun was streaming through the car windows, and the clock read almost noon.

"Why do you look so put together Tutor Girl?" Brooke asked, opening her eyes.

"After we switched seats we only had like an hour left to drive, so it was about three when we pulled in. You were out cold, and Luke and Peyton looked so cute, and god knows she needs her sleep now, so I couldn't bear to wake them up. And Nathan, well, he doesn't wake up easily. So I picked up Jamie and went home, and let you guys sleep." She explained, laughing when seconds later the little blonde four year old came running out the door.

"Daddy!" he screamed, effectively waking up not only Nathan, but Lucas and Peyton as well. "I missed you!" he said, opening the door to hug his father, and in the process, catching sight of Lucas and Peyton, who were getting out of the car to say hello. "Uncle Lucas!"

"Yeah J. Luke?" he said, laughing as he gave his nephew a hug.

"Mommy said that Aunt Peyton is my real Aunt now. Cause you and her got married on vacation."

"Yeah, we did." Peyton said, hugging the little blonde boy too.

"Does that mean that Lindsay's not coming back?"

"That is exactly what that means." Lucas answered, pulling his wife closer to him.

"Good. Cause I didn't like her. She was mean. And not as pretty as Aunt Peyton. Plus, Aunt Peyton got me rock band for Christmas. Lindsay got me a book." He said, crinkling his nose.

"God, Haley. He is so adorable." Peyton laughed.

"Yeah, too bad he inherited his father's inability to filter himself."

"He's five years old Hales. He'll get over it." Luke said, reassuring her. "And he looks more and more like me every day, so obviously he's cute."

"Lucas. He does not look like you. He's your nephew. Not your son." Haley laughed, mock yelling at him as she turned to look at Peyton, who she saw take a deep breath.

"But, how would you like someone who really looks like you?" Peyton asked, slowly as she turned to face Lucas.

"What do you mean Peyt?" he asked, even though he had a fairly good idea where this was going.

"I'm pregnant Luke." She said, looking down, at the ground as she said it, as if she was afraid that one sentence would send him running, just like everyone else.

"Really?" he asked, but when she looked up, he wasn't frowning, he was grinning from ear to ear, Brooke had been right, he looked like a kid in a candy shop. "I'm going to be a father?"

"Yeah." She said, smiling as he kissed her. "And there's more."

"What else could possibly make this better?" he asked, still smiling. '

"It's twins!" Brooke yelled from the car as she stumbled out. "Sorry Peyton. I couldn't help myself."

"Twins? Like two?" Lucas asked, still smiling.

"No dumb-ass, like five." Brooke said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, like two. I'm going to leave you two alone." Brooke added when she saw their faces, and she walked back to the car.

"So you're happy? You're okay with this?" Peyton asked, tentatively, "You don't want to leave?"

"Seriously? I'm ecstatic! A wife and two kids? I'm- I love you so much Peyton Elisabeth Scott."

"I love you too Luke. Now we just have to tell your mom. And my dad.

"We'll you don't have to tell your mother at least." Came Karen's voce from behind the car. "I heard." She said, sounding dumfounded. "And I am so happy for you." She laughed, running to hug her daughter in law. "All four of you."

And with that, the rest of the day seemed to melt away, and it all became a blur of wedding plans, baby plans and catching up with everyone. And Peyton and Lucas didn't get a chance to even talk to each other until later that night, when they finally climbed into bed.

"So you're happy? About this?" Peyton asked, curling up closer to her husband.

"I couldn't be happier. Was your dad excited?"

"He'll be on the next plane he can find. He was so happy he almost screamed."

"Good. I love you."

"I love you too Lucas Scott." Peyton smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, finally resting his hand on her still flat stomach, and they both fell asleep.

**A/N: So, this fic is over. There is going to be a sequel, and anyone who reviews will get a more in-depth summary then the one to follow, but it's going to be set nine months in the future and there's going to be accident, and one death, but the story is a Leyton, with a happy ending, so, well… It title is going to be Hear Right Past Me, and it'll probably be up tomorrow or the next day, depending on how may reviews I get. And this chapter probably should have been broken up into two chapters, but I wanted to finish it. So, sorry if that bothers you. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to everyone who read. **


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